Electronic surveillance


Murder suspect caught out by facial recognition at Chinese airport


A Chinese fugitive who evaded the authorities for three years with dozens of fake identities has finally been caught thanks to the country’s growing network of facial recognition surveillance technology.

Wu Xieyu, 24, was on the run suspected of killing his mother in 2016. He was arrested on April 21, minutes after he appeared in an airport in the southwest city of Chongqing. The airport had upgraded its surveillance system to include facial recognition about six months ago.

The airport surveillance system flagged Mr Wu four times, alerting the authorities that there was a 98 per cent chance that he was their suspect, according to The Paper, a government-run news site, before police approached him and asked if they could see his identity papers.