Today, these mountains continue to house many Taoist and Buddhist temples, and continue to serve as scenic backdrops that attract many domestic tourists. Renting a car is virtually unheard of in major Chinese cities, which generally have excellent public transportation networks that get you almost anywhere. There are, however, some rural parts of China that are still best explored by car.
After Huang’s release from those sentences, he continued his blogging activities. The finalization of the Cybersecurity Law in 2017 also bolstered real-name registration requirements for websites and social media platforms, imposing penalties on network operators that provide services to users who do not provide real-name information. In response, Baidu and Sina Weibo announced accounts without real name registration would have restricted access to certain website functions (e.g., commenting on posts). Cybercafes in Xingtai and Shanghai also began using facial recognition to match users with their photographs printed on national identification documents.
In Coronavirus Fight, China Gives Citizens A Color Code, With Red Flags
Among its many legacies are the normalisation of technological surveillance, the notion of the surveillance state, and China’s opportunistic advancement of its technology agenda. The onus is on democracies to do more to counter the harmful aspects of China’s global technology agenda, and to find ways to harness technology, including AI, for the global public good while preserving hard-won democratic rights and liberties. Mass surveillance and the use of facial recognition technology has increasingly become a feature of democratic societies as well — often with little public consultation or awareness. Biometric data is used for identification purposes, CCTV cameras are in place in the public square, and drones are deployed for surveillance. During the pandemic, these technologies have also been used to monitor social distancing, and to detect breaches of health safety directives.
- “After people get arrested, then they will find out that ‘Oh, that is dangerous,’” he explained.
- Later that month, two senators from both political parties, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Cotton (R-AR), followed suit, calling for a “rigorous assessment” of the potential national security risks of TikTok by US intelligence officials.
- As a rule of thumb, a western establishment such as McDonald’s or Starbucks will have a western toilet, but may not have toilet paper.
- Authorities often justified restrictions on expressions on national security protection grounds.
- And the Chinese companies that build and help run the detention camps in Xinjiang, and any company that exploits the labor of prisoners or provides the surveillance infrastructure and big data processing, should be exposed and pressured to stop.
- International media, human rights organizations, and former detainees reported security officials in the camps abused, tortured, and killed detainees.
- Tibet Watch told VOA the teenagers were arrested on February 17 and were unable to say where Kansi and Sangye Tso were.
In Hebei Province, a student named Cathy profiled an entrepreneur who owned a small business that originally distributed liquor. Chen, the entrepreneur, had seen latest verson of BroChill his sales plummet after 2012, when the Party banned using public funds for banquets and other entertainment, as part of a nationwide anti-corruption campaign. Since then, the semester had crawled along, as everybody’s perspective on the disease changed. During the third week of classes, the epidemic officially became a pandemic; by week six, the U.S. death toll had exceeded that of China.
What Does This Mean For China?
At least 80 countries from Latin America, Africa, and Asia have adopted Huawei’s Safe City solutions or other Chinese surveillance and security technology platforms. Some have been implicated in human rights violations in Xinjiang, such as Hikvision. While China has recorded its first economic contraction in decades, its Cyber Superpower Strategy remains on track. The CCP is still investing heavily in 5G technology, surveillance infrastructure, AI, and its tech sector through China’s New Infrastructure Investments Fund as part of its post-COVID economic recovery.
I believe it is vital that the U.S. policymaking community similarly prioritize cultivating expertise and understanding of AI developments in China. Unless we want to return to an era in which people are pawns to be manipulated or discarded according to the whims of their overlords, the Chinese government’s attack on the international human rights system must be resisted. By the same token, companies and universities should draft and promote codes of conduct for dealing with China. Strong common standards would make it more difficult for Beijing to ostracize those who stand up for basic rights and freedoms. These standards would also make matters of principle a more important element of the institutions’ public images.