In Hangzhou, people were generally happy with it. Most people there have this attitude that if you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about. The word for privacy in China didn't appear in the official modern dictionary until 1998. But especially in wealthy cities like Hangzhou or Beijing or Shanghai, people know they have a concept of privacy and value it.
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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