As unsettling as the best dystopian novels can be, none can compare with the real world horrors which plague the lives of flesh and blood human beings.
If there’s a most salient example of this going on in the world today, it may well be China’s treatment of its Uyghur population. With draconian determination, the CCP is attempting to eradicate the identity of this Turkic ethnic group, which amounts to some 12 million people.
Along with physical force, a sophisticated surveillance apparatus—fingerprints, facial recognition, voice recognition, and other biometrics—is used to keep track of every single Uyghur.
If that weren’t dystopian enough, “vocational centers” and “re-education camps” are used to confine, coerce, and control Uyghurs—a group that the CCP views as an existential threat to the unity of China. In addition to violence and torture, brainwashing is also used (especially of children) as a means of instilling the “right” thoughts and beliefs.
In Surveillance State: Inside China’s Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control, two journalists from the Wall Street Journal provide a detailed account of the nightmarish conditions for Uyghurs inside Xinjiang. Drawing on years of in-depth reporting, Josh Chin and Liza Lin help us understand the myriad ways that China is putting its extensive surveillance capabilities to use.
In this wide-ranging book, the authors also go beyond China, surveying how other governments—including the United States—have used (and abused) their surveillance capabilities. In doing so, the authors shed light on the evolution of these technologies, showing how original intentions and international borders have little to do with how they’re ultimately used.
The most gripping part of Surveillance State is the story with which it begins. In 2017, the Hamut family—Tahir, his wife, and two children—narrowly escaped Xinjiang to seek refuge in America as the CCP ramped up its subjugation of Uyghurs.
Abruptly summoned to their local police station, Tahir and his wife were forced to provide biometric information. As intrusive as the experience was, others experienced worse. (Tahir recalls seeing blood on the ground near a torture device known as a tiger chair.)
They also had their passports confiscated. Finally, after hours at the police station, they were allowed to return home. But Tahir knew full well that he and his wife could be whisked away to a camp at any moment, as had happened to many others. That’s life as a Uyghur in Xinjiang.
It was only through the pretense of seeking medical treatment in the United States for his daughter—plus luck and grit—that Tahir and his family managed to escape. Yet the pain of being separated from his home and culture has remained with him. A talented poet, Tahir has sought refuge in writing verse to try and make sense of all that has happened. (Readers are treated to a couple of his poems in the book.)
Unlike in Vegas, what happens in China, doesn’t stay in China. Xi Jingping’s $1 trillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative signals loud and clear his intention to increase China’s influence across the globe. From supplying countries with badly needed infrastructure to updating outdated technology, China stands as a ready and willing partner to work with whoever is willing. That includes governments who want to spy on their political opposition.
A chapter called “Trade Winds” brings this vividly to life. In recent years, Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, has faced growing opposition. Knowing he no longer has the support of the people, he’s had to rely on censorship, surveillance, and dubious elections to remain in power. With the help of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, Museveni has at his fingertips a surveillance system to do with as he pleases. In the last election, his opponent didn’t stand a chance. Musevini remains in power, 36 years and counting.
If what’s going on in China and Uganda feels disturbing, yet ultimately distant, there’s plenty to occupy our attention, here in the West.
In a chapter entitled “Homeland Security,” the authors discuss what can happen “when government agencies agree to use a surveillance system for a specific, narrow purpose but slowly add new applications over time.” As an example of “mission creep,” the authors point to New York City’s surveillance apparatus deployed after 9/11. From subway cameras to license plate readers to facial recognition, technology that was originally intended for one thing has been used for many other purposes.
Mission creep is nothing new. But the cost of sophisticated surveillance has gone down over the years—and that includes for everyday citizens. While government intrusion is what most of us fret about, the harm that a single bad actor could do with a cheap drone shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s an uncomfortable paradox that so much of the modern technology that keeps us safe can also be used to wreak havoc. In the case of Tahir and his family, along with scores of other Uyghurs, it can be used to brutally oppress millions of people.
Spectatio 