If you were a Uyghur in living in Xinjiang, particularly at the time when I was reporting there in sort of late 2017, 2018, into 2019, essentially your entire life was subject to surveillance virtually around the clock. Just walking down the street, you have police that would wave you over and demand that you hand over your smartphone; they can scan it for digital contraband. Of course, as I said, there are cameras on street corners that can identify you by your face and track you that way. And for certain Uyghurs, including Tahir and Marhaba, the couple that I opened the book with who had traveled overseas,. Those sorts of Uy
China’s quest for social control is now playing out in ways that should worry us all. In this episode of the podcast, award-winning journalist Josh Chin explains how the Chinese government is weaving digital technology into every aspect of daily life from traffic patterns to food safety to emergency response. And he argues that this is a matter of global concern: Western governments encouraged their countries’ companies to sell China the technology it needed to build its surveillance state in the hope that economic and scientific engagement would lead to political reform. Not only did that plan backfire but now China is exporting its system to other countries such as India, Uganda, and Singapore. The host for this episode is Katie Stallard - Senior Editor, China and Global Affairs, at the New Statesman magazine.
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