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Keeping an Eye on China's Security
2008-01-31
HONG KONG - Since Imperial times, Chinese governments have relied on neighbors to inform on each other as a way to preserve social control.But with China now becoming wealthier and its citizens more mobile, the government is now embracing the extensive use of street-by-street surveillance technology — and the United States government is becoming less sure that American companies should be playing a central role in the effort. The Commerce Department is drafting new rules on what security equipment American companies can sell to China. The move comes in response to rapid advances in surveillance technology and the increasing involvement of American companies in the Chinese market as the Olympics approach. People involved with the process said the Commerce Department was singling out biometric technology — face-recognition software, in particular — which Chinese security agencies could use to identify political and religious dissidents. E. Richard Mills, the department's chief spokesman, confirmed that the agency had begun drafting new rules, but said it was unclear whether the regulations would have the overall effect of tightening or loosening export controls. Mr. Mills said any changes would have to be reviewed by other government agencies and submitted to public comment. Chinese security agencies are rapidly increasing their spending on video systems with powerful computer analysis tools. American companies, with heavy financial backing from American hedge funds, have played a central role in helping Chinese cities install thousands of street surveillance cameras and use computers to process the video. Congress has become concerned about the export controls on such activity. “It remains extremely important to have such controls in place so that our country's exports do not enable governments abroad to repress the fundamental freedoms that we cherish here at home,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat who presides over the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. “I will be watching closely as this process develops to ensure that current U.S. export controls are not weakened.” Honeywell, General Electric and United Technologies have all been aggressively pursuing contracts in China to sell advanced surveillance equipment from the United States, partly in preparation for the Olympics; all said in statements that they comply with current regulations, and G.E. said that it “would fully expect to be supportive of and compliant with any future changes.” I.B.M. has also been active in the market, but had no immediate comment. Mr. Mills said that the Commerce Department's decision this month to begin overhauling the relevant export regulations reflected a general effort at the agency to make sure that all export controls were up to date. Congress banned the transfer to China of any equipment related to crime control after the Tiananmen Square killings in 1989. At the time, the Commerce Department had some export restrictions on crime-control equipment, dating back to 1975 and also covering shipments to other totalitarian countries, like North Korea. The regulatory overhaul that has just started, and applies to very modest exports of crime-control equipment to totalitarian countries as well as China, is the first since the early 1990s. William A. Reinsch, the Clinton administration's under secretary of commerce for export administration, is now the president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a Washington group that represents multinationals on trade issues. Mr. Reinsch said that he was concerned that the new rules could limit American export opportunities and give new ones to European and Asian companies. Whenever new export controls are drafted, federal agencies tend to add more products to the list of restricted goods, and agencies seldom agree to remove any items, he said. Mr. Mills said that the Commerce Department would analyze what products are available from companies not based in the United States before issuing any new export-control regulations. At a public security convention for police buyers in November in Shenzhen, China, Bosch of Germany had a large booth near Honeywell's to promote its surveillance cameras. Panasonic and Siemens have also been selling security systems in China, according to the Security Industry Association, a trade group in Washington. China Security and Surveillance Technology concluded an agreement last week with LG Electronics of South Korea to distribute LG's closed-circuit television equipment and accessories in China for three years. But American companies heavily promote their equipment as being the most advanced on the market, in part because much of it was developed to fight the threat of terrorist attacks in the United States. Current American regulations allow the export of most surveillance equipment if regulators believe it could be used in a factory or office complex and is not intended exclusively for police work. In addition to multinationals that export surveillance equipment from the United States, there are other security companies that are incorporated in the United States — and are mainly bankrolled by American hedge funds — but with virtually all of their employees in China. These companies include China Public Security Technology and China Security and Surveillance Technology. Both companies have been very active in installing street cameras in China and providing software for them. Executives at both companies said in telephone interviews on Wednesday that they used Chinese technology and did not expect to be affected by new American regulations. The rules cover only equipment shipped from the United States or made overseas using technology exclusively developed in the United States. “I don't see it would have any effect on our business,” said Robin Huang, the chief operating officer of China Public Security Technology. Morton Sklar, the executive director of the World Organization for Human Rights USA (formerly the World Organization Against Torture USA), a Washington advocacy group, said the group was preparing to file a Freedom of Information Act request Friday, seeking detailed information on how the Commerce Department has been enforcing its export regulations on crime-control equipment until now. The group is also investigating whether it can sue American companies and hedge funds over their involvement in the Chinese security industry, and United States government agencies over their allowing that involvement, Mr. Sklar said. With the migration of close to 10 million peasants to cities each year eroding its centuries-old system of citizens watching one another, China's leaders decided a year ago to start relying much more on technology to maintain internal control.
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