.bmp)
.bmp)
BEIJING-In preparation for the Beijing Olympics and a host of other international events, some American companies are helping the Chinese government to design and install one of the most comprehensive high-tech public surveillance systems in the world.When told of the companies' transactions, critics of China's human rights record said the work violated the spirit of a sanctions law Congress passed after the Tiananmen Square killings.The Commerce Department, however, says the sophisticated systems that Honeywell, General Electric, United Technologies and IBM are installing do not run afoul of the ban on providing China "crime control or detection instruments or equipment." With athletes and spectators coming from around the world, every Olympic host nation works to build the best security system it can. In an era of heightened terrorism concerns, it could be argued, high-tech surveillance systems will be an indispensable part of China's security preparations. And given China's enormous economic potential, corporations are always anxious to get a foothold here; the Olympics provide a prime opportunity.But as the first authoritarian regime to host an Olympics since the former Yugoslavia in 1984, China also presents particular challenges. Long after the visitors leave, security industry experts say, the surveillance equipment Western companies leave behind will provide authorities here new tools to track not only criminals, but dissidents too."I don't know of an intelligence-gathering operation in the world that, when given a new toy, doesn't use it," said Steve Vickers, a former head of criminal intelligence for the Hong Kong police who now leads a consulting firm.Indeed, the autumn issue of the Chinese Public Security Ministry's magazine prominently listed places of worship and Internet cafes as locations to install new cameras.A Commerce Department official who insisted on anonymity, said the agency was reviewing its entire list of banned exports, including military and crime control products. Asked whether equipment identified as commercial by Western manufacturers could have crime control applications, the official said, "There may be users in China who figure out law enforcement uses for it."Multinationals are reluctant to discuss their sales to China's security forces, but they say they have done everything necessary to comply with relevant laws.Information is not easy to come by, but interviews with engineers at the Public Security Ministry's biennial convention; visits to Chinese surveillance camera factories and police stations; and reports on China prepared for member-companies of the Security Industry Association, a trade group based in Alexandria, Virginia, provide an outline of China's mammoth effort. Interviews with security experts and executives in Asia and the United States also provided previously unknown details about the systems American companies are providing.Honeywell has already started helping the police to set up an elaborate monitoring system to analyze feeds from indoor and outdoor cameras in one of Beijing's most heavily populated districts, the site of several Olympic venues. The company is working on more expansive systems in Shanghai, to be ready for the 2010 World Expo there - in addition to government and business security systems in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Changsha, Tianjin, Kunming and Xi'an.General Electric has sold the Chinese authorities its powerful VisioWave system, which allows security officers to control thousands of video cameras simultaneously and automatically alerts them to suspicious or fast-moving objects, like people running. The system will be deployed at the Beijing national convention center, including the Olympics media center.IBM is installing a similar system in Beijing that should be ready before the Olympics. It will analyze and catalog people and behavior.Julie Donahue, IBM's vice president for security and privacy services, told a technology news service this month that by next summer IBM would install in Beijing its newly developed Smart Surveillance System, a powerful network that links large numbers of video cameras. IBM refused repeated requests to answer questions about the system, or discuss her remarks.United Technologies flew three engineers from its Lenel security subsidiary in Rochester, New York, to Guangzhou to customize a 2,000-camera network in a single large neighborhood, the first step toward a city-wide network of 250,000 cameras to be installed before the 2010 Asian Games. The company is also seeking contracts to build that network.Critics argue that all these programs violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the 1990 U.S. law banning the export of "crime control or detection instruments or equipment" to China.The Commerce Department, charged with developing regulations that implement the law, disagrees. The department bars exports for which the sole use is law enforcement, like equipment for detecting fingerprints at crime scenes. But video systems are allowed if they are "industrial or civilian intrusion alarm, traffic or industrial movement control or counting systems," according to the regulations.To read more go to:As in the days of Noah....
