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发帖数: 149 | 1 这一告不管赢不赢，都算赢了。
Western companies including Cisco Systems Inc. are poised to help build an
ambitious new surveillance project in China—a citywide network of as many
as 500,000 cameras that officials say will prevent crime but that human-
rights advocates warn could target political dissent.
The system, being built in the city of Chongqing over the next two to three
years, is among the largest and most sophisticated video-surveillance
projects of its kind in China, and perhaps the world. Dubbed "Peaceful
Chongqing," it is planned to cover a half-million intersections,
neighborhoods and parks over nearly 400 square miles, an area more than 25%
larger than New York City.
An examination of the Peaceful Chongqing project by The Wall Street Journal
shows Cisco is expected to supply networking equipment that is essential to
operating large and complicated surveillance systems, according to people
familiar with the deal.
The U.S. has prohibited export of crime-control products to China (for
instance, fingerprinting equipment) ever since Beijing's deadly 1989
Tiananmen Square crackdown. But the U.S. restrictions don't prohibit sale of
technologies such as cameras that can be used in many ways—to tame, say,
either traffic jams or democracy marches. This loophole troubles some
critics. There is no indication that Cisco is selling products customized
for crime control.
Western companies' pursuit of sales in China underscores a fundamental
question for businesses and policy makers alike: Should companies be held
accountable if foreign governments use their products for political
suppression?
The number of surveillance cameras in Chinese cities including Chongqing
appears to dwarf that of other cities around the world, though comparisons
are tough because cities generally don't disclose their camera counts.
A 2008 report by the state-run Xinhua news agency said Beijing had some 280,
000 cameras in its system. By comparison, privacy advocates in the U.S.,
including the American Civil Liberties Union, estimate Chicago has 10,000
cameras. The New York Civil Liberties Union estimated in 2009 that there
were 8,000 cameras in New York.
Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304778304576377141077267316.html#ixzz1REvc1D9V |
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