The Defiance Podcast

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China’s Surveillance State | Christopher Balding

Peter McCormack

Interview | Description | Timestamps | Show Notes

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China’s Surveillance State | Christopher Balding Peter McCormack

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Location: New York
Date: Wednesday, Oct 23rd 2019
Role: Professor

The CCP's ever-expanding surveillance state is eroding the limited freedom left in China. Tactics such as facial recognition, social credit system and information warfare are used to intimidate and control the population.

Censorship is rife, and The Great Firewall of China blocks sites and content, including references to the Tiananmen Square massacre, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia and even Winnie the Pooh. 

Many Chinese 'replica' sites operate in a similar space to these; however, there is a distinct difference; they are highly censored and closely monitored. If you search for or try and send a message using Weibo or WeChat and it contains 'Tank Man', 'Tiananmen Square Massacre', 'Free Tibet' or anything else that is on the Chinese Government block list, your message never arrives.

The Chinese Communist Party has a tight hold on the data you consume and share. So, why are other countries so keen to allow China to build their national infrastructure and telecoms networks?

The Belt and Road is a global development initiative in which the Chinese Government build rail and road links across much of the world, in essence, a 'New Silk Road'. These projects are especially prevalent in Asia, Africa and parts of South and Central America. The Chinese Government call this "a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future" but others see this as a way of China using 'debt-trap diplomacy'. By building expensive infrastructure countries are left indebted to China, perhaps indefinitely, handing leverage to China on future trade deals and negotiations.

While countries like the US are sceptical about this Chinese initiative, other western countries seem to be embracing it. Recently the UK's finance minister Phillip Hammond called the project 'a vision'.

Similarly to the Belt and Road, the Huawei 5G network is spreading throughout the world. The US has again taken a firm stance against it based on fears of spying and citing Huawei's gaping security holes. However, many other countries are still considering allowing the Chinese company to build their 5G networks.

In this interview, I speak to Christopher Balding, a Professor at the Fulbright University in Vietnam. We discuss the Chinese surveillance state, free speech, the Belt and Road and the persecution of the Uygurs.

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  • 00:00 - Show Intro

  • 02:26 - Welcoming Christopher to the show

  • 04:23 - Christopher’s background

  • 08:13 - Christopher no longer welcome in China

  • 15:27 - The 4 T’s

  • 17:28 - The consequences of speaking out in China

  • 19:30 - The Belt and Road Initiative

  • 24:02 - The exportation of Chinese surveillance

  • 24:19 - Huawei exporting 5G networks

  • 27:01 - Huawei security flaws

  • 34:41 - Why are western governments accepting the security and surveillance risks

  • 36:23 - Bending the knee to China

  • 39:49 - The persecution of the Uyghurs

  • 45:05 - What happens next in China

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