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China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

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Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#141

Not defending surveillance at all. But I want to mention that China's CCTV network is an important part of the legal improvement on self-defense. From ancient time, the law in most dynasties strongly discourages self-defense because it's unjudgeable most of the cases. And it also could be a tool of murdering. Modern China pretty much inherited this tradition. Although the self-defense is defined in the law just like…

What bs. The US has had decent self defense law for generations without the need for mass surveillance.

The more I see of China the more I think no effing way I want a 'one-size-fits-all' global world based on their standards. I might as well die in a world war because I would rather poke them in the eye versus live like that.

Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#142
post #115
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's such a funny mismatch of culture and display of poor international PR sense too. Based on some cursory search, it looks like it's another one of those local-government-pioneered pilot/experiments [1] like the credit score (except there are dozens of cities in that pilot). The second tier city local government, trying to tout their achievements at the national level, then goes on a PR spree [2] (probably to ea…

> this is a huge negative rather than an achievement from the western perspective. To you and I, yes, but I don't think we can take for granted that everyone or even a majority of the West thinks that way these days. Especially if you told them it was to be used for immigration control. We've already got the mass surveillance TV show: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunted_(2015_TV_series)

oh ya, for sake of brevity, that was totally a coastal HN crowd facing message. I'm sure people living in Chicago where 40-60 people are being shot each weekend has a different perspective.

Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#143
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The BBC is one of very few respected foreign news outlets that is not routinely blocked by the GFW. They generally have a more China-friendly stance than US news media.

The BBC has been blocked by the GFW since around mid-2018 when they migrated to HTTPS. The Chinese censors could no longer snoop on or selectively block the traffic.

Ah, thanks, I should probably have checked the current situation before repeating what I remember.

Random thought: it would be interesting to compare news services that are and aren't blocked and see if the ones that haven't been blocked yet tend to be more positive on Beijing in their coverage.

Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#144
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The BBC is one of very few respected foreign news outlets that is not routinely blocked by the GFW. They generally have a more China-friendly stance than US news media.

The BBC is blocked all (it is blocked right now because of the Hong Kong protest/riot happening at the moment) the time and its live news feed is also cut off regularly in the middle of stories. That being said it is trusted a lot more than CCN & Foxnews which are the other two news sources that are on cable TV (neither are blocked at the moment). I wouldn't really say that the BBC has a China-friendly stance. I woul…

I was comparing more with the NYT, WSJ, Bloomberg, all of which have broken major stories that were critical of Beijing. I haven't seen as much of that from the BBC. Fox I consider mainly to provide domestic entertainment, so whatever China bias they have wouldn't be that relevant.

It sure would be interesting to someday learn about how all these decisions of what to block get made.

Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#145
post #35

The interesting part is not the story itself, but that they chose to demo it to the BBC. Marketing at its best, they want everyone to be fully aware of their capabilities. Wouldn't be surprised if they were overstated, so as to keep citizens in check. The BBC willingly plays along and does not even question the capabilities either way.

You have to understand that Chinese prefer security over freedom. They support this kind of measures since majority of them probably won't be bothered by it their whole lives, as their typical response: if you don't illegal things, what's to fear for. And the state media has been touting for years that China is the safest country on earth that "you can buy skewers at midnight", that America is the example of a failed…

[deleted]

Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#146
post #142
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> this is a huge negative rather than an achievement from the western perspective. To you and I, yes, but I don't think we can take for granted that everyone or even a majority of the West thinks that way these days. Especially if you told them it was to be used for immigration control. We've already got the mass surveillance TV show: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunted_(2015_TV_series)

oh ya, for sake of brevity, that was totally a coastal HN crowd facing message. I'm sure people living in Chicago where 40-60 people are being shot each weekend has a different perspective.

I'm trying to work out whether there's a constituency who's in favour of mass surveillance but not gun control, and what that landscape looks like.

Given the prohibition on building a database of gun owners, I wonder if we'll end up with a situation where everyone's face is recorded but the guns are blurred out to protect their rights.

Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only the minority that are protesting.

Yeah, abject outcasts sponsored by black hands from America and the UK.

As I noted in another comment, a majority of Hong Kong people did not identify themselves as “Chinese” when given the choice.⁰ It is rather implausible to claim that over three million Chinese people are “sponsored by black hands from America and the UK”. Moreover it is quite unlikely that the majority of them are “abject outcasts.” And, finally, as a Marxist, I should like to know in what sense you consider your remarks to be compatible with the compassion for “outcasts” that animated at the very least Marx: “we should not abandon Marxism-Leninism;”¹ “[a]ll Party members must…be firm in their commitment to…the Marxist view on development;”² “[w]e must adhere to Marxism.”³

0. https://www.hkupop.hku.hk/english/popexpress/ethnic/eidentit...

1. XI Jinping, The Governance of China, p. 10

2. Ibid., p. 23

3. Ibid., p. 25

Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Odd isn't it? I watch their news for more than a few weeks and for the most part find it both balanced and unbiased. I think there were legitimate gripes about its coverage surrounding the Scottish devolution debate, but other than that - it's very good.

What were those legitimate gripes?

I would say that there was probably a case that the BBC News coverage leaned against the independence cause. (I speak as someone who wanted Scotland to stay in the Union).

I would say in partial mitigation that the one bias the BBC probably does have is a bias towards the status quo.

Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#149
post #23
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technology itself is always amoral. Even splitting the atom can be used to achieve wonderful and horrific outcomes. So of course “facial recognition” per say is not the problem. But in this particular example, we see how facial recognition combined with a couple hundred million surveillance cameras funneled into a massive government data processing pipeline can be extremely effectively used for persistent tracking an…

> There’s a reason we don’t implant GPS trackers into babies at birth just because they might get lost one day. What reason are you thinking? I wouldn't support it myself, but I don't usually represent public opinion. GPS didn't really burst into the public imagination before 2007 and the iPhone; in a sense the technology is only about a decade old or so in the public sphere. Prior to 2000 the US government's officia…

Unless you can make gps readers that are non-metallic and don’t require battery changes, probably not going to happen...

Re: China’s CCTV network took just 7 minutes to capture BBC reporter (2017)

#150
post #35

The interesting part is not the story itself, but that they chose to demo it to the BBC. Marketing at its best, they want everyone to be fully aware of their capabilities. Wouldn't be surprised if they were overstated, so as to keep citizens in check. The BBC willingly plays along and does not even question the capabilities either way.

You have to understand that Chinese prefer security over freedom. They support this kind of measures since majority of them probably won't be bothered by it their whole lives, as their typical response: if you don't illegal things, what's to fear for. And the state media has been touting for years that China is the safest country on earth that "you can buy skewers at midnight", that America is the example of a failed…

> You have to understand that Chinese prefer security over freedom.

Or, as Mike Tyson put it: everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.

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