Electronic surveillance

China’s Surveillance State Now Monitors Foreign Companies, as Well as Citizens

The Wall Street Journal’s claim that China’s surveillance state, which now records the behaviors of foreign companies operating there, is only intended to “monitor and rate” them falls far short of the communist government’s real intentions. Using sophisticated tracking technology — meters in chimneys monitoring air pollution, recording of excessive energy usage by a company’s meters, and so on — it intends to change the behavior of those companies to keep them in line with state policy and objectives.

China’s State Council — the government’s all-seeing eye — already monitors every citizen’s behavior. It knows when an individual avoids paying full fare when using public transportation, when he jaywalks, or violates family-planning mandates. It knows when an individual travels outside his house, where he stays, with whom he visits, and what modes of transportation he uses and how he pays for it. It has full access to his bank records and real estate transactions, as well as the details of visits to a doctor.