According to a congressional commission of the US, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is committed to the production and use of technology that controls and surveys its population.
Chairman Robin Cleveland and Vice Chairman Carolyn Bartholomew of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, in a joint statement, said that China’s move to use technology as a tool of repression is “politically motivated to sustain the Party”.
“The Chinese Communist Party is committed to the production and use of technology that controls and surveys its population. The decision to use these tools of repression is politically motivated to sustain the Party,” the statement read.
Surveillance has become a booming business in China with number of tech start-ups moving in to meet the market demand with the government’s encouragement.
Several human rights activists have pointed out that this enterprise has quickly become a critical apparatus for suppression and abuses, especially on minority groups.
Beijing uses a system called the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP), which has the ability to audit entire populations. This system is developed by a state-owned military contractor China Electronics Technology corporation. This system can monitor every corner of Beijing by state-of-the-art surveillance cameras. Facial recognition algorithms matched with images filed away in a secret database could see you in legal trouble for something you did near your front door. A semi-political post made in a private chat could lead to the loss of your job.
“From there, it can rapidly produce names of people classified as “suspicious” — and thus marked for possible detention — purely as a result of their travel patterns abroad, mobile applications installed and key phrases used in bulletins or private messages, sometimes as basic as asking someone else where they can pray,” according to media reports.
Xinjiang serves as the “central nervous system of surveillance” in China, which is an IJOP that prompts you to enter identifying information, such as when you grow a beard, leave your house, or your blood type, etc,” Joseph Humire, Executive Director for the Centre for a Secure Free Society (SFS).
“These apps try to determine your pattern of life, and if Chinese authorities determine any change in your pattern of life, they come to visit you,” he said.
“It is targeting the whole population with the focus on anyone who has independent thinking,” said Xiaoxu “Sean” Lin, a microbiologist and activist/spokesperson for the Washington-based Falun Dafa Association.
“Many technologies are involved in facial recognition including Facial Action Unit analysis, facial expression recognition, deep neuro network analysis, facial muscle movement recognition, topographic modelling, deep machine learning and supercomputer technologies,” Xiaoxu added.