How China Is Exploiting Coronavirus to Expand the Surveillance State
- The Communist Party of China has been using the coronavirus outbreak to harvest “incredible” amounts of data about their people.
- People exiting train stations are being forced to download an application that will store name, address, ID, and phone data.
- The surveillance will likely worsen because the virus is still spreading across China.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) never passes up a chance to tighten its authoritarian grip over its subjects. So it’s not surprising that Beijing is treating the coronavirus outbreak as an excuse to introduce new Orwellian measures on the mainland.
Beijing Ramps up Mass Surveillance Measures
New York Times reporter Paul Mozur says that’s exactly what’s happening across the country.
The video in his tweet below is from Shanghai. Anyone commuting around the city now has to register all of their personal information on an application:
The dark side of living under one-party rule is genuinely coming to the fore.
Not even Luddites can escape the surveillance state.
Chinese citizens without mobile must disclose their information on paper forms – which will then be manually entered into a digital database.
The CPC is also allegedly suspending WeChat accounts that post about the severity of the coronavirus outbreak.
China is suspending social media accounts.” width=”525″ height=”393″ layout=”intrinsic”/>And all of this to contain the spread of coronavirus.
But a few brave people have found crafty ways to bypass the censorship, risking the wrath of the Communist Party.
China‘s people are still spreading truth about coronavirus” width=”528″ height=”390″ layout=”intrinsic”/>Fighting Coronavirus or Running a Political Campaign?
The CPC is working overtime to control the coronavirus narrative.
Terrified of looking weak or vulnerable, Beijing is manipulating the information flow to cast its containment measures of nothing short of heroic.
But reports about the government’s stunning censorship and surveillance measures have managed to slip through the Great Firewall.
The CPC Is using micro-drones surveil people, turning neighbor against neighbor, and checking individual mobile phones to stop locals from recording videos.
This is likely just the beginning.
Chinese ‘Spy Stock’ Soars to New Heights
Because conditions are worsening, you can expect China to implement more authoritarian tactics to stifle free speech.
The system already in place to surveil the masses is apparently not enough.
China” width=”1200″ height=”852″ layout=”intrinsic”/>Wuhan Guide Infrared specializes in making equipment for surveillance and medical inspection for the CPC.
While the wider Chinese stock market bleeds, Wuhan Guide Infrared’s shares have rallied 115% this year.
Unsurprisingly, the Communist Party of China has been the company’s biggest customer.
Clearly, the CPC intends to escalate the surveillance program.
And since coronavirus is still not contained, the surveillance regime will likely only grow more draconian going forward.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
This article was edited by Josiah Wilmoth.
Published at Fri, 07 Feb 2020 15:17:42 +0000
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