Published: Less than 20 min ago
China is adopting new methods to quell the biggest protests in the country in 30 years.
Using advanced spy technology, protesters have been located and threatened into silence.
– If they want, they can definitely find us, says protester Wang.
In the middle of the night, Chinese police raided the homes of protesters and took them away against their will. For over a day, they were detained and interrogated while their phones were searched for banned apps such as Twitter and Telegram.
The fact that it was so easy to find the protesters is due to the Chinese police having access to one of the world’s most advanced surveillance systems, writes New York Times.
Some have been tracked via their mobile phones. Others have been identified through the facial recognition on any of the surveillance cameras sitting on millions of street corners around the country.
– I knew the risks of going to such a gathering. If they want to find us, they can definitely succeed, Wang, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the New York Times.
He says the phone call from the police only lasted ten minutes, but they did their best to scare him.
– He clearly said that this was my last chance, says Wang.
“Big Brother Technology”
According to China researcher Alkan Akad, who works for Amnesty International, this is the first time that the surveillance system has targeted a large number of middle-class people in the more affluent cities.
– We hear stories of police showing up on people’s doorsteps asking where they were during the protests and this seems to be based on evidence gathered through mass surveillance, he says.
-China’s “Big Brother technology” is never turned off and the government hopes that it will now become effective in dispelling unrest.
Lawyer Wang Shengsheng, who represents 20 protesters, believes the police are searching the phones to find lines of communication to leading figures and to prevent further progress of the protest movement.
– This is something we have never seen before. This time it is clear that it is the phones that the police pay the most attention to, she says Washington Post.
“Draged 50 meters”
The protests, which took off after the apartment fire in the city of Ürümqi where ten people died after being locked behind padlocked doors by Covid-19 patients, are being described as the most violent since the demonstration stations in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Demonstrators have testified how the police were initially taken to bed and smiled and let them pass at roadblocks that were set up, but that they became increasingly hard-line.
Videos on social media show protesters being beaten and dragged away
– I was dragged 50 meters by police, my underwear was exposed, Cong, who was targeted after trying to prevent them from arresting other protesters, told Foreign Policy.
Chinese police did not want to answer how many people were arrested during the demonstration stations.