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China surveillance tech seeks to go global – Arab News


VILLEPINTE, France: Chinese firms are omnipresent at a Paris homeland security trade show, capitalizing on their vast experience in developing surveillance systems for Beijing to conquer the global market despite concerns the technology has been used to violate human rights.

With 89 out of 1,100 companies demonstrating their wares at the Milipol security trade fair, China is the best represented of the 53 nations present save for host nation France. But contrary to weapons and ammunition on display at other stands, Chinese firms offer nonlethal equipment: Helmets, bulletproof vests and tactical clothing for special forces or riot troops, jamming equipment and cameras.

China is known for its heavy police surveillance, with market research firm IHS Markit estimating it has already deployed 176 million cameras to monitor public spaces across the country.

That number is expected to expand to 2.76 billion, or nearly two for each citizen, by 2022.

Coupled with facial recognition technology, in which China is also a world leader, the surveillance network is an important element of Chinese efforts to control its population. Hikvision, which has supplied cameras for the video surveillance system in the French city of Nice, is not present at Milipol this year.

A number of the companies present come from the Shenzhen region near Hong Kong — home to telecommunications equipment maker Huawei.

“It’s the Silicon Valley of China,” said Yolen Ye, sales manager at GDU, which makes mini drones equipped with cameras.

The firm has already sold a model to Thailand for use in monitoring forest fires, but the GDU says the drones are capable of tracking up to 30 targets while the cameras can feed systems that identify license plates or faces.

Chinese armaments firm Norinco is also present at Milipol, but with facial recognition technology rather than assault rifles or battle tanks. “In China, facial recognition is not a new technology and we realize this is a safe country because in most public spaces, we have this system to secure the situation,” said a representative of the state-owned firm who asked that his name not be used.

It is more difficult to sell the technology in Europe as “they have fears that it impacts privacy,” he added.

But he said it offers advantages in situations like preventing football violence as police can be alerted when persons known to commit violence arrive near stadiums.



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