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:in:China Gamebook
Cinzia Bongino Design Academy Eindhoven — March 2019
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Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction based on real facts: names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is not coincidental.
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Preface Start Index Sources Index Topics Flowchart
What you hold in your hands is a gamebook. Here you create your own story depending on the choices you make. The narration branches along various paths through numbered pages: there are three characters to play and nine endings to find. Take your pick.
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Preface
This is a story about mass surveillance in China
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The Control Room
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the chairman Mao Zedong invented a mechanism of control through the dissemination of information by word of mouth. Chinese people kept a watchful eye on one another and reported inappropriate behaviors. Since then, the surveillance network has increased in intensity and coverage. Nowadays there are multiple ways in which the Chinese government engages in surveillance and censorship: on Baidu (the Chinese internet browser), through the numerous CCTV cameras and the recent Social Credit System, to name a few. The government monitors every single person, from the most isolated citizens in the countryside to the highest positions in the administrative system of the country.
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There have been established specific types of Supervisory Commissions to guard the Communist Party members, politicians of the Politburo and even the highest offices in the Security and Defense ministries. Foreign reporters and journalists are also increasingly obstructed in their work: by obtaining a shorter visa permit, by being interfered with their work or by having their devices hacked. The western media are trying to raise awareness about this problem by publishing reports and documentaries. The more China wants to know about its inhabitants, the less information lets transpire to the rest of the world.
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Xinjiang
In recent years, the government put a particular effort into monitoring the western area of China, known as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, where about 10 million Uighurs, the Muslim Chinese, and a few other ethnic minorities reside. Situated along the ancient Silk Road trading route, it's the largest natural gas-producing region of the country: as it developed along with the rest of China, the area attracted more Han Chinese, which received better treatments and job offers than the Uighurs. The social and economic disadvantages triggered protests and tensions among the various ethnic groups.
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Re-education camps
The Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo (in office since 2016) responded with a new policy of “de-extremification�: under the guise of countering separatist movements possible jihadist terrorist attacks, he strengthened the control over ethnic minorities to curtail Islamic traditions and practices of the Uighurs. Facial recognition technology, security checkpoints to scan ID cards, phones confiscated to download personal data, bans against Muslims: this is the everyday life of Xinjiang citizens. Uighurs, Kazakhs, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Hui and the other ethnic minorities live with the constant fear of being locked up in the so-called "Re-education camps", where millions have already disappeared to be transformed into perfect Chinese citizens, by the use of brainwashing and repressive measures.
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There isn't any public data available about the number of re-education camps in Xinjiang: in May 2018, the British Columbia student Shawn Zhang identified 66 suspected sites cross-checking satellite images and government bid documents about the construction or renovation of facilities. Check the map →
Re-education camps
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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who whatches the watchers? 谁看着观察者? Juvenal, SATIRES (Satire VI, lines 347–348)
Start
This is the story of:
U — Uighur farmer Go to page 24
C — Chinese politician Go to page 30
A — American journalist Go to page 40
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24
U – Your name is Mujahid Bekri and you are Uighur.
You are a 37-year-old farmer who lives in Tashidian, a small town in the Bayingolin Prefecture of Xinjiang. Your grandparents moved from Tajikistan 60 years ago and since then your family has always lived in northern China. You are not a proper practicing Muslim, but your father is one of the three Imam of the city, so you have always been involved in religion. Day by day, you're getting worried about the discrimination policy against ethnic minorities: you have been ordered to cut your long beard, to not speak about religion and politics, to show the ID card, passport and phone at every police checkpoint, to not give Muslim names to children, to not use any half-moon with a star symbol. Women had also to stop wearing the hijab or any black long dress similar to the burka. :page 25
Hukou System
25
This afternoon you can finally pick up your new Hukou booklet at the Neighborhood Committee. It's like a domestic passport, where there's written your family history, your residency status (rural or urban citizen) and the resulting rights and privileges.
â—? Jingwang Weishi App :page 26
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Jingwang Weishi App
After giving you the Hukou booklet, the Neighbourhood Committee advices to download also a new app that scans your smartphone to delete any contents flagged as “dangerous”.
● You do it. You receive in addiction a form to fill :page 27 ● You'll do it later. Go to the supermarket :page 29
Population Data Form
This form is sent to all the residents in the Xinjiang province: it must be filled with personal data. The result classifies each person as “safe,” “normal” and “unsafe”.
● You fill it :page 28 ● You'll do it later :page 36
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Blood Types
Chinese authorities are building a database of iris scans and blood types of everyone aged between 12 and 65: it's for the sake of the population, they say.
â—? Type AB :page 34 â—? Type 0 :page 32
Supermarket
29
You go to the supermarket for some shopping. At the entrance, there's a policeman that asks for the ID document; he then wants to check your phone too.
Uighur
● You consent :page 38 ● You refuse :page 35
American
● You show the work
phone, in which you always delete the sensitive data :page 98
30
C – Your name is Wei Jintao and you are Chinese.
You are a Han Chinese working as Mayor of Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang. You moved to this city 15 years ago after graduating at the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, the higher education institution which specifically trains officials for the Communist Party. You worked as part of the Communist Youth League Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and then as Deputy Party Secretary. Also Yu Yan, your wife, is a proud Communist Party Member: she was a 86% match on Tencent's QQ, a Chinese dating app that matches people based on age, gender, astrological sign, and blood type. Being the Mayor of Ürümqi gave you fame and reputation in China: you dealt with the recent riots between ethnic Han Chinese and Uighurs, which were claiming of being discriminated. Unfortunately Western countries don't understand the current policies for terrorist attacks prevention: the re-education centers are an important measure to help people controlled by extremist ideologies, by training them with cultural and athletic activities. As confirmation of the importance of this policy, China can proudly claim that no attacks have occurred in recent years. :page 31
Politburo System
31
Every significant decision of mainland China is first discussed and approved by Party's Political Bureau: the 24 members are elected by the Party's Central Committee, but how the standing committee operates is kept secret. Your political office is going to finish soon and you don't hide your agenda of becoming a Provincial Governor, maybe of Hebei, where you come from.
â—? Schedule of the day :page 39
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Blood Type 0, Unsafe Person
• Risky age (15-55): -10 > 80 = Safe • Ethnic Uighur: -10 70-50 = Average • Unemployed: / < 50 = Unsafe • Possesses passport: / • Prays daily: -10 • Possesses religious knowledge: -10 • Flagged countries visited: / • Belated return to China: / • Contacts with foreign countries: -10 • Family with homeschooled children: /
This is the result of your form: on a scale of 100-point value you are considered "unsafe".
● Local Beat Cops :page 38
Phone Inspection
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The policemen stop you at the crossroad to check if the Jingwang Weishi app is installed in your phone; they also ask for your documents. From their faces you guess that there's something wrong going on: they probably matched your face with the database of people considered "unsafe".
â&#x2014;? Passport Check :page 51
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Blood Type AB
喜欢这个派对 热爱这个国家 Well, you don't feel to match perfectly with the description, but at least you resulted as "average" person. You are in pain for the result of your father: as Imam, he risks much more. But now it's time to leave.
● Travel to Ürümqi :page 36 in the picture "Love the party, love the country". A child rests near the entrance to a mosque in Kashgar city, Nov. 4, 2017.
Biometric Data
The policemen are irritated: showing personal documents is mandatory. They force you to leave the fingerprints and register your voice: it's for the police database. You do what they ask without complaining. Then you're free to go.
● Go to KFC :page 52 ● Leave Ürümqi :page 44
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Travel to Ürümqi
You will spend a nice weekend with your girlfriend in the capital of Xinjiang, Ürümqi: better carrying every identification documents with you, in case of inspection.
● Hilton Hotel Ürümqi :page 42
Chinese People Dataset
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You are probably displayed on the monitoring system as a dangerous person: the police department is going to track your movements, license plate, phone, everything. This makes you scared.
â&#x2014;? Local Beat Cops :page 45
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Surveilled
You'll do it straight away and they let you go. The situation is getting worst and worst every day: you feel watched and judged for any little action you do, because of the surveillance cameras hidden in everywhere.
● Travel to Ürümqi :page 36
Schedule of the day 8.30 - Meeting with the mayors 10.30 - Briefing with the bank's representatives 13.00 - Conference at the Local Communist Party 15.30 - Visit to the Police Department To Do: - Send money to the Party - Check the evaluation of the Population Data Form - Check the applications of local petitioners
Start with the paperwork â&#x2014;? Check the Population Data Form :page 27 Read the news on the way to your office â&#x2014;? Xinjiang in the news :page 59
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A – Your name is Cindy Scott and you are American
You are a foreign correspondent for Time Magazine, focused on the political situation in China. You have been working on the Xinjiang Autonomous Region for the past three years, but you were already following the events in that region since 2009, at the beginning of the oppression against the Uighurs. You are just landed at the Beijing Capital International Airport for a stopover before the next flight to Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang. You are already fed up because of the shorter Visa issued by Chinese authorities: instead of 1 year, they permitted you to stay only three months. Many other colleagues have received the same treatment: the conditions became worst in the last year, concurrently with the stronger implementation of the policy established by Chen Quanguo, the actual Communist Party Secretary of the region. In the meanwhile you can ● Check your email :page 41 ● Call your contact in Ürümqi :page 61
Check your email
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Turn on the VPN on your phone and set the location to another random country to check the email: unfortunately the process seems not working this time. You'll try again when you land in Ürümqi; at least you have previously downloaded the hotel confirmation.
● Go to the gate :page 66 ● Call your contact in Ürümqi :page 61
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Blacklisted
再见 再见 再见 再见 再见
The hotel in Ürümqi doesn't accept your booking: the receptionist apologizes by saying that there was a problem in the system and unfortunatley the rooms are all reserved. The truth is that your reservation means more paperwork for the hotel, and also a fine, depending on the municipality: this is pure discrimination against Uighurs.
● Leave Ürümqi :page 44 ● Make a complain at the Police Station :page 56
Hilton Hotel Ürümqi
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欢迎 欢迎 欢迎 欢迎 欢迎
As you were supposing, there is the police at the entrance of the hotel, checking every person walking in front of it. They stop you too and ask for your phone: you give them the one used for work, in which you clean every sensitive data. They then let you check-in at the reception.
● Go to your hotel room :page 86
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Leave Ürümqi
Realizing how much this system is sick makes you sad and without hope. You and Aisha thought several times of leaving China and starting from scratch in another country, well aware that maintaining the contacts will be almost impossible: you could never see family and friends again.
● Remain in Tashidian :page 46 ● Drive to the border :page 73
Local Beat Cops
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Outside of the building, you see a group of policemen coming closer: you're sure, they're going to ask for your passport because of the result of the Personal Data Registration Form.
â&#x2014;? You cross it :page 48 â&#x2014;? You wait and they reach you :page 33
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Remain in Tashidian Ending U1
Locals do not use words like “oppression” when talking about the overall situation in Xinjiang. Rather, they tend to say “weziyet yaxshi emes” (the situation isn’t good), or describe Xinjiang as being very “ching” (strict, tight).
Denied
再见 再见 再见 再见 再见
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The receptionist told you that the hotel is fully booked by an unexpected meeting of the party. You don't believe her: you're sure that the hotel manager has received an order to deny you lodging. Thankfully you remember the address of the hotel you have been the last time.
● Call a Taxi :page 86
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Jaywalking
The CCTV camera recorded you while jaywalking and your ID card is now displayed on billboards and the Shenzhen traffic police's webpage. You receive a text that states you must pay ¥20 of fine.
Uighur
● WeChat :page 50
American
● Reach Sun :page 90
Toilet Face Scan
厕所
49
You need to splash some water on your face and being alone for a few minutes: you go to the toilet, but there are installed some face scans . You must show your face to get the toilet paper.
Uighur
● KFC :page 52
American
● Now you really need
your contact: search Sun :page 69
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You are very exhausted of this system: you complain on WeChat about the fine and the discrimination faced every day with Aisha.
â&#x2014;? People's Police of PRC :page 53
Passport Check
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It's the new Cheng Quanguo's policy of confiscating every Uighur passport, designed to cut off any connection with the outside world. You refuse to give yours, they bring you to the police station for an in-depth control.
â&#x2014;? Public Security Bureau :page 66
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KFC
You feel very irritated and hungry: this discrimination is so unfair. You want to eat some chicken wings at KFC: smile in front of the camera to pay the order. It will memorize your face to speed up the future payments. That's enough.
â&#x2014;? You punch the monitor :page 56 â&#x2014;? You drive back home :page 44
People's Police of PRC
53
The day later a group of policemen knocks to your door. They want to bring you to the police station for the interrogation. You try to resist and protest, but they handcuff you immediately.
â&#x2014;? Interrogation :page 55
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Broken Screen
Punching the KFC monitor has not been a great idea. The policemen handcuff and bring you to the police station.
â&#x2014;? Interrogation :page 55
Interrogation
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During the interrogation the policeman check your phone and your documents, comparing them with the result of your data form; they also ask about your last movements and the people you know, all while attached to a liedetection machine.
Uighur
â&#x2014;? Public Security Bureau :page 56
Chinese
â&#x2014;? Go to Trial :page 95
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Public Security Bureau
The police block you for the night in jail: you are not allowed to advise your relatives. They blindfold and force you to a night interrogation session.
Uighur
â&#x2014;? You are not a proper Chinese :page 58
American
â&#x2014;? Black Jail :page 110
Biometric Database
You sign the evaluation of the biometric data of the Uighur citizens: the number of people considered "unsafe" is increasing more and more, but you have faith in the politics of Chen Quanguo. China must be protected from religious extremism.
â&#x2014;? Your phone is ringing :page 62
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You are not a proper Chinese
The morning after the police order you to learn how to be a proper Chinese: you must go to school (menaing to a Re-Education Center).
â&#x2014;? The Prayer :page 80 in the picture An official notice from a village in Hotan, saying that one resident has been sent to a re-education school and his temporary inability to repay loans should be excused.
Xinjiang on the News
59
On the way to the office you read some local and international newspapers. The Western countries are depicting Xinjiang as a big internment camp: it is so unfair and imprecise, they don't understand the great effort into teaching Chinese culture and tradition to the Islamic Chinese.
â&#x2014;? Your phone is ringing :page 62
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Landed
Four hours later you land in Ürümqi: you try to contact your friend, but it seems that he is not yet available. You then try to send him a text on WeChat, but the VPN still does not function.
● Go to the hotel :page 47 ● Look for an Internet Cafè :page 64
Call your contact in Ürümqi
61
Sun Min is also a journalist working for the local newspaper, and a good friend of you. He has always helped with your reportage, especially with the last one, when he convinced his friends and relatives to be interviewed. He does not answer the phone, maybe he is busy.
● Go to the gate :page 66 ● Check the email :page 41
62
Your phone is ringing
â&#x2014;? You answer :page 67 â&#x2014;? You do not answer, you remind yourself to send the monthly contribution to the Party :page 63
Money to the Party
63
The most important thing is sending your monthly contribution to the Party. You have been a member since the beginning of your career and it opened you many doors.
â&#x2014;? Call your wife to remind her the contribution :page 84 â&#x2014;? Go to the first meeting of the morning :page 81
64
Internet Café
You enter in the Internet Café just around the corner, searching for a fast connection. Luckily this Café makes also a decent coffee. You pay ¥ 4 for 1 hour.
● Connect to Internet :page 68
Taxi Driver
65
Why the driver is taking so much time to reach the hotel? He is also receiving several calls. Thanks to your basic Chinese knowledge, you guess that he is receiving orders of driving in circles. The situation is clear: sooner or later a group of policemen will reach the car to ask your documents.
â&#x2014;? Contact your editor in chief :page 103 â&#x2014;? You wait until the taxi stops :page 43
Flight to Ürümqi
66
ÜRÜMQI
BEIJING
At the last check before the flight, the hostess at the counter stops you because of an alarm message on the monitor. She has to pass your passport three times before the machine accepts it. Oh well, great start: you guess that this time you are on some foreigners blacklist.
● Landed :page 66
Blackmailed - Hello? - I know you. - Excuse me? - I know you. I know what you did in 2015: you should never have destroied the nature reserve for building the textile factory. You, like your collaborators Li Hai and Xie Yu, don't deserve to rule in this country. The truth will be published soon. Or pay ¥ 17 million. /End call Fuck! You thought that this matter was over. It happened in the first months of your term: you wanted Ürümqi among the first 20 positions in the rank of the City Tier System by the end of your mandate. You paid a bribe to the CEO of an engineering company and to the Green Department of the city council, in exchange of the approval of the city renovation plan (and the consequent destruction of the reserve): you hoped in a great economical and commercial development, but now your past comes back against your future career.
● You refuse to pay :page 76 ● Pay the money :page 79
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Connect to Internet
You finally log in to your email, but you notice that some conversations are missing. The bin is empty, but you did not clear it. Someone hacked your account. Turn off the device and call the security officer of your department at the New York Times. â&#x2014;? Call Jack :page 88 Keep calm, maybe you are tired after the flight and your brain is not 100% efficient. Freshen yourself up. â&#x2014;? Go to the toilet :page 49
Search Sun
69
You can't reach Sun on the phone: you decide to search him at the newspaper where he works. They haven't seen him since yesterday, he didn't show up this morning at work.
â&#x2014;? Walk down the street :page 96
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Re-Education Centers
71
You are transferred in a police car. From the car window you can see some signs of Dabancheng, just outside Beijing. After driving in the desert for a couple of hours, the car finally stops in front of the prison where you'll be held for the next months, or maybe years, taught to become a proper Chinese.
â&#x2014;? Daily Routine in Prison :page 72
劳动教养 72
Daily routine in prison
Wake up at 5, same tracksuit, one-hour daily training, lessons and sleep deprivation. This is going to be your everyday life: you are allowed to meet your relatives just once in a month, but will you ever be released?
● Work :page 74 ● Learn :page 78 ● Eat :page 77
Drive to the border
73
You did it. You and Aisha crossed the border with Tajikistan and you are now boarding on a flight to France, ready to start a new life. You passed at home briefly to say goodbye to your father, feeling very badly, but it was the right thing to do before the situation became worst.
â&#x2014;? A text on WhatsApp :page 75 in the picture The Kulma Pass crosses the border between the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China.
工作 74
Work
Working for 12 hours a day, without being paid: work is holy in China and it's the redemption for your mistakes. Much of the labor done is geared towards agriculture or producing goods, many of which are sold internationally. Probably someone in Europe is using a product made by you.
● Learn :page 78 ● Eat :page 77
A message on Whatsapp Ending 2
75
Chinese police are demanding that Uighurs living in France hand over personal information, photos, ID card, passport, certificate of nationality, job and home contract, diploma. If you don't collaborate they have to pay a visit to your relatives in Xinjiang. Actually, you are kindly invited to come back to China for a speed up the procedure.
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Refuse to pay
中央 员会 委 军委 律检查 委纪律检 军 中央 查委 会 员会 员 委 中央 查 律检 军 纪 委 中央军 纪律 检查 委员 会 中央军 委纪律 检查委 员会 员会 委 查 中央军委纪律检 It's the same amount of money paid for the approval: can you still trust your collaborators or there is a mole among them? You do not pay, but you are in a terrible situation: you picture already the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection opening an investigation on you.
● Ask your friend at the Police Department :page 82 ● Ask legal advice to your wife :page 84
Eat
馒头
稀饭
蔬菜汤
Steamed Bread, Chinese Rice Porridge, Vegetable Soup without vegetables. That's your daily diet.
● Learn :page 78 ● Work :page 74
77
Learn
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努 力训 练
努 力训 练
March and sing in your cell for three hours, calling out cadences in Chinese: "Train hard, study diligently". Then watch "re-education" films about appropriate interpretation of Islam until lunch. Repeat again in the afternoon.
● Eat :page 77 ● Work :page 74
Pay the money
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+86 872 324 5562 ¥ 17.000.000 in a vase with flowers - h 14.50. 43°45'09.2"N, 87°27'10.1"E
It's the same amount of money you paid for getting the approval: it's probably someone that knows the people involved in the settlement. You delegate this job to your most reliable collaborator, hoping that this will never come out.
● Go to the meeting :page 81
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The prayer
Many of people you knew are disappeared after entering. You promise yourself that you are going to survive and escape, whatever will happen. You will see again your beloveds.
Uighur
● Re-Education Center :page 70
Chinese
● Go to prison :page 100
American
● Locked up :page 115
The Petitioners
You discuss with the other mayors of your province about the petitioners of this month. They are mostly farmers with the usual boring grievances against neighbors or too high taxes to pay.
â&#x2014;? Find an agreement :page 83 â&#x2014;? Deny all the petitions :page 85
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82
Police Cloud Database
The Chinese Police Cloud is a big data policing platform that analyzes the citizens' personal information, using the Chinese search engine Baidu and the network of surveillance cameras. You ask to monitor your phone, in order to identify the blackmailer.
â&#x2014;? Mobile Phone Tracking :page 91
Find an agreement
83
The evaluation of the petitions requires more time than what you expected: you must reschedule your programs. Tonight's dinner with Yu Yan has to be canceled, unfortunately.
â&#x2014;? Call her now :page 84 â&#x2014;? Call her after the conference :page 87
84
Call your wife
It's the third time that you try to call Yu Yan, but she doesn't answer. Weird, maybe she is overloaded of work.
â&#x2014;? Go to the Communist Party Conference :page 87
Deny all the petitioners
85
You pay five petition blockers for ¥ 800,000 in order to stop the complains: there isn't time for this, you must find out who is the blackmailer. Ask your friend who works at the Ministry of Public Security’s to check the call received this morning.
● Police Cloud Database :page 82
86
Go to your hotel room
You're a little concerned; Sun does not anwers the phone. Contact him by email â&#x2014;? Connect to internet :page 68 Search him at the newspaper where he works â&#x2014;? Search Sun :page 69
CCP Provincial Committee
87
You just arrived at the conference of Communist Party of China Provincial Committee, when it's told you that Chen Quanguo, the Secretary of Xinjiang, wants to meet you after his speech at the conference, in his office. That's curious and unexpected: what could it mean? Maybe it's a promotion, he wants to discuss your future career in the Party...
â&#x2014;? Meet Chen Quanguo :page 92
88
Call Jack
You try three times, but as soon as he answers the phone call is cut off. It's clear that someone does not want that you contact other people in China.
â&#x2014;? Walk down the street :page 96
Turn Left
89
Randomly you met a colleague from an UK newspaper: it's good to see a familiar face. Let's have lunch together: better going to buy food in a supermarket or finding a restaurant?
â&#x2014;? Buy snacks and go to a park :page 29 â&#x2014;? Look for a restaurant :page 106
90
Reach Sun
You do not care about the fine, the New York Times will pay it. Finally, you're able to speak with Sun, but he does not look so happy to see you. He waves to follow him.
â&#x2014;? Find a park :page 98
Mobile Phone Tracking
91
Every smartphone is monitored in China. Those manufactured by national companies and exported have also been reported to have installed backdoors built-in for gathering users' data.
American
Chinese
:page 43
tracked :page 94
● Hilton Hotel Ürümqi
● Your wife's phone is
92
Meet Chen Quanguo
When you finally enter into Quanguo's office, you notice immediately a couple of guards standing up close to the door. You then find out that you were not invited for a promotion, but due to the bribe paid at the beginning of your career.
â&#x2014;? The guards start an interrogation :page 55
Do not ask questions
93
Sun can put you in contact with some friends of him, but he also recommends to use a low profile during your stay in Urumqi, and not lodging always in the same hotel. You want to write a story closer to the real life of Uighurs but you don't want to endanger the sources.
â&#x2014;? Uighur's dinner :page 123
94
Your wife's phone is tracked
It comes out that the police division of Urumqi has been monitoring the phone of Yu Yan for the last two months. She is targeted as yellow, meaning a potential suspect or that she is in contact with someone blacklisted. Ask to have access to the CCTV camera of your neighborhood: you want to see what she did in the past few days.
â&#x2014;? CCTV Camera Network :page 99
Trial
95
The warning of the trial arrives unexpectedly: the next week you will be judged in court in front of the National Supervisory Commission, the highest anti-corruption agency of China. Your lawyer tells you that politicians have released several declarations against you.
â&#x2014;? The verdict :page 97
96
Walk down the street
Outside of the street, you see cameras everywhere: surveillance camera, camera eyeglasses worn by policemen, small police stations, other machines of facial recognition systems. It's the Chinese Big Brother and he's watching you.
â&#x2014;? CCTV Camera Network :page 99
The Verdict
97
Sentenced to life in prison for Bribery of Public Officials and Accessory-After-The-Fact; your properties are confiscated. It all happened in a few days: you did not have either the opportunity to talk with your wife and relatives. They will have news from you on the news.
â&#x2014;? The Pray :page 80
98
Find a park
There are so many police checkpoints and documents inspections in Xinjiang, but you grasp that this situation is getting annoying also for the local Han Chinese. You look for a private bench in the park, so you can talk without being disturbed. Maybe closer to the kindergarten.
â&#x2014;? If you are with the
UK journalist :page 108
â&#x2014;? If you are with Sun :page 121
CCTV Camera Network
99
China owns the largest monitoring system in the world: it can detect any person in 7 minutes.
Chinese
The screen shows a meeting between your wife and a woman. ● Who is she? :page 102
American
● Turn Left :page 89 ● Turn Right :page 117
100
秦城監獄 Quincheng Prison
You are sent to the Quincheng Prison, also known as "the tigers' cage", a maximum-security facility where are detained many political prisoners. From now on you'll be labelled as 2378.
● Lunar New Year :page 101
Lunar New Year Ending C1
101
The Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in China and is all about reuniting with family. This is the only moment of the year when you will be able to spend some time with your wife, monitored with an electronic bracelet.
102
Who is she?
You match her face with the database of foreigners in your jurisdiction: it comes out that she is an American journalist. How is it possible that your wife was talking with an American? She has never traveled outside the mainland.
â&#x2014;? Kidnapped :page 109
Contact your editor in chief
103
Your editor in chief answers immediately. While you explain the situation with the latest updates, you hear a small click in the background of the phone call. His answers are a bit distorted. Better not to tell too much on the phone, it's not safe.
â&#x2014;? Mobile Phone Tracking :page 91
104
Help Yu Yan
The police department does not tell you where she is locked or who to speak with. You get mad: it's so unfair this system! Don't give up: call your lawyer to fix the situation â&#x2014;? Consequences of your actions :page 112 You give up: your wife can be released just if she publically apologize for whatever she has done â&#x2014;? Watch CCTV13 :page 113
105
Social Credit Score Ending C2
五 � ��
七
� ��
250
八百
四百
���
�� �
���
六百
百
百
���
Your social score has heavily decreased: it will take years to build again your reputation. Forget any five-star hotels or first class travels.
106
Restaurant
The personnel at the restaurant seems not very happy to receive foreign visitors. You ask for some updates to your colleague, but it seems like he cannot really speak about it.
â&#x2014;? List :page 108
What to do?
107
双喜 Your wife in jail. This ruins your career: you will never be able to compete for a job in other municipalities, or joining the Politburo. You can just go backward. ● Social Credit Score :page 105 You trust her, there must be a mistake. There aren't any evidences that she leaked some documents to the journalist. ● Help Yu Yan :page 104
108
List
He chats about weather and random stuff, while he puts down on paper what's really going on in Xinjiang. You can't even finish to read his text that a man approaches you.
â&#x2014;? The plainclothes policeman :page 114
Kidnapped
109
�:�� － 位置：私人住宅
Fast forwarding the footage to this morning, you watch a group of policemen ringing the bell of your home. Yu Yan opens the door and is immediately handcuffed. You realize what happened: she was taken to a black jail.
● Black Jail :page 110
110
Black Jail
111
Black Jails are a network of extralegal detention centers established across the People's Republic of China in recent years. They are used mainly to detain petitioners who seek redress for unsolved grievances. Black jails do not possess any official or legal status: in contrast to the detention centers, people can be jailed for months without a formal trial or even any advice to the relatives. There isn't any official number of these facilities: they may be located in state-owned hotels, hospitals, psychiatric departments, residential or government ministry buildings.
Chinese
● What to do? :page 107
American
● The Pray :page 80
112
Consequences
和国司法部 中华人民共
You sue the neighbourhood police department, but your skeletons in the closet come out during the trial: the magistrate found out the bribe paid at the beginning of your term as mayor and the recent public money spent for stopping the petitioners.
● Go to Trial :page 95 in the picture
Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China
Watch CCTV13
113
Ending C3
13 You continuously look at billboards and tv news, until when you will read the name of Yu Yan, because she pledged guilty or because of her death.
114
The plainclothes policeman
节目 您的 文件 A plainclothes policeman orders to show the sheet of paper, your phone, and documents. Noticing the press badge they ask you why are you here; they then want to continue the conversation at the police station.
● Public Security Bureau :page 56
Locked up
115
You are imprisoned without trial: you did write articles and reports about this "power of detention" and now it's happening right to you. It's absurd, all because of the information written by the English journalist. Now that you are locked up, promise yourself to be brave and stay alive, to tell the truth worldwide.
â&#x2014;? First month :page 116
116
First Month
你是
You
are
- blindfolded and confined to a cell with no windows; - watched by guards 24/7; - allowed to exercise only in specific hours of the day; - denied to see your lawyer or contact your embassy; - forced to sleep deprivation; - forced to exhausting interrogation sessions; - subjected to lie-detection machines;
There is no way to escape without pledging guilty
● Public apologize :page 120
Turn Right
117
You see Sun on the other side of the street: you wave to him, but he does not notice you. You cross the crossing walk without paying attention to the traffic light.
â&#x2014;? Jaywalking :page 48
118
From the taxi window Ending A1
Looking out of the taxi window, you notice a flock of doves flying above the countryside. Will ever the Uighur population have that freedom back?
119
120
Public Apologize
You did it: you read the forced confession written by the Chinese government, broadcasted on the media. Now you're free, but the license as a foreign correspondent is going to be removed. What do you do?
â&#x2014;? Leave China, and fly back to NY :page 122 â&#x2014;? Remain in Xinjiang until the end of your Visa :page 124
With Sun
Sun updates you on the actual situation in Xinjiang, and how much he risks every day as a journalist: he has received many threats.
â&#x2014;? Don't ask questions :page 93
121
122
Leave China
On the way to the airport, you can see your face on TV, billboards, and newspaper, spread in all the city. You feel worthless: after all these years spent working on Xinjiang, nothing has changed, it just got worse and worse.
● From the taxi window :page 118 in the picture Paramilitary policemen in an armored vehicle are on duty at the airport in Ürümqi Hotan in Xinjiang (Nov. 3, 2017).
Uighur's dinner
123
You are invited to a dinner at Sun's friends: they are a couple with three children. Thanks to them you can achieve a great insight into the everyday life and education of young Uighurs: the kids are recorded for improving the standard at school.
â&#x2014;? Can you really change the world? :page 125
124
Remain in Xinjiang
As a journalist, you always go as closely as possible to the truth: living like a shadow, you spend the days left gathering all the information you can access.
â&#x2014;? A book :page 126
Can you really change anything?
125
Ending A2
Meeting this Uighur family made you think about the reasons why you decided to become a journalist. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?" - David Mitchell, CLOUD ATLAS
126
A book
Ending A3
You collected enough material for writing a book; you outline the first ideas on paper during the last days in Xinjiang. Maybe it could become something like a Gamebook.
127
128 ● page 24 — U Authorities in Hotan prefecture in Xinjiang, have sentenced a prominent imam to more than five years in prison for taking his son to an unsanctioned religious school to meet other children. Radio Free Asia "Xinjiang Authorities Jail Uyghur Imam Who Took Son to Unsanctioned Religious School", 2018
Index Sources To Delete “Dangerous” Photos", 2017
body if you are from the wrong ethnic group. You have had to complete ● page 27 — U:C a survey about your Chinese authorities use ethnicity, your religious forms to collect personal practices and your “cultuinformation from Uighurs: ral level”; about whether prayer habits, contacts you have a passport, abroad, blood type, relatives or acquaintansocial stability. A Han Chi- ces abroad, and whether nese is usually marked as you know anyone who “safe,” a Uighur as “avera- has ever been arrested ge” or “unsafe”, if he/she or is a member of what had unusual behaviors. the state calls a “special The Wall Street Journal population.” "Twelve Days in Xinjiang: The New York Times ● page 25 — U How China’s Surveillance "What It’s Like to Live in a China’s hukou system State Overwhelms Daily Surveillance State", 2018 shapes the political eco- Life", 2017 nomy of the country while ● page 30 — C affecting individuals’ life ● page 28 — U China faced calls on chances and social staA pseudoscientific belief Tuesday from Western tus. One cannot acquire exists in some East Asian government to end its a legal permanent resicountries, that a person's mass detention of Uighur dency or categorization blood type is predictiMuslims, but brusquely permit in other hukous, ve of personality and rebuffed the concerns which can happen only compatibility with others. as “not factual” and through a government China tends to attribute “politically driven.” authorization. characteristics to certain The New York Times Fei-Ling Wang "The blood types. This means "At U.N., China Defends Hukou (Household Regithat depending on what Mass Detention of Uighur stration) System", 2017 blood type or zodiac Muslims", 2018 sign someone has, that person will also fall under ● page 31 — C ● page 26 — U certain categories, or JingWang Weishi is a All five new members of mobile phone application having better job offers. the Politburo Standing used for surveillance of Wikipedia, The Sunday Committee, the party’s Times "Want a job in Chi- most powerful body, are residents in Xinjiang: the na? You’ll need the right application records pertoo old to remain in place zodiac sign and blood sonal information about if an unofficial retirement type", 2017 the device it is installed age is adhered to, leaving on. Data is transferred in open the possibility plaintext and without enthat Mr Xi will seek to ● page 29 — U cryption. The application At the supermarket or the extend his term in office. also monitors WeChat bank, Xinjiang residents Financial Times "Xi Jinand Weibo activity. ping’s top team: China’s are scanned at every Buzzfeed "China Is Fornew Politburo Standing entrance, the bags are cing People To Download X-rayed and an officer Committee", 2017 An App That Tells Them runs a wand over your
129 ● page 33 — U Residential compounds, markets, mosques, hospitals, and other wider spaces all have separate entries and exits. All places have a computer and a small box which is reportedly used to download all information from smartphones, which the protocol mandates if someone can’t produce their ID card. Police officers check commuters’ cell phones for banned apps and messages. BuzzFeed News "This Is What A 21st-Century Police State Really Looks Like", 2017 ● page 35 — U:C Official tender documents and reports suggest that the police is collecting voice patterns together with other biometrics – fingerprints, palm prints, and profile photos, as well as urine and DNA samples – when it conducts “standardized” and “integrated” “information collection”. Police officers can subject anyone suspected of “violating the law or committing crimes”, including misdemeanors, to this treatment. Scientists who are leading their development state that its purpose is to help to identify the speakers in voice materials collected during a crime. Human Rights Watch "China: Voice Biometric Collection Threatens
Privacy", 2017
police violence against demonstrators. New ● page 37 — U testimony reveals that China owns the largest dozens, if not hundreds, monitoring system in of the Uighur ethnic the world. There are minority, many of whom something like 170 million were arrested in the CCTV cameras installed wake of the riots, are still across the country, and disappeared, and that the that’s tipped to grow government continues more than three-fold with to intimidate people 400 million more set to be including families seeking installed by 2020. information on their BBC "In Your Face: Chidisappeared relatives na’s all-seeing state", 2017 who reveal human rights abuses during and after ● page 38 — U the protests. Authorities in Xinjiang Amnesty International region have launched a "Ürümqi riots three years racial profiling campaign on - crackdown on Uito assess the security ghurs grows bolder", 2012 threat posed by non-Han Chinese majority residen● page 41 — A It is now clear that ts of the capital Urumqi, with points automatically using a VPN is crucial docked for members of for unblocking Gmail the mostly Muslim Uyghur in China and gaining unreethnic minority. Personal stricted access to other foreign services. Expats information for each resident are listed on the visiting the country documents, including can simply download their name, home adand install the VPN app dress, age and number of before landing in China, regardless of whether it is family members. available on the app store Radio Free Asia "China Launches Racial Profiling or not. Campaign to Assess bestvpn.com "Bypass Uyghurs’ Security Risk", “The Great Firewall” – How to Unblock/Access 2017 Gmail in China", 2018 ● page 40 — A On 5 July 2009, a protest ● page 42 — U in the regional capital Local hotels frequently Ürümqi against perceived rejected Uighur visitors Chinese government by claiming there are no inaction over the death of rooms available. Even a a Uighur factory worker Uighur policeman had in southern China, turned been denied a room. to ethnic rioting following This doesn't happen with
130 foreign tourists. The Guardian "We’re a people destroyed’: why Uighur Muslims across China are living in fear", 2018
told after we arrived and showed our passports that the rooms were full or that a large party had suddenly appeared at the hotel and needed rooms. When pressed, one ● page 43 — A hotel manager sheepiHours after visiting shly admitted that he’d the Hotan bazaar in just received a call from Ürümqi, reporters authorities asking him to were stopped outside a deny us lodging." hotel by a police officer Foreign Correspondents’ who said the public Club of China "Under Wasecurity bureau had been tch: Reporting in China's remotely tracking the Surveilled State", 2018 reporters’ movements. Foreign Correspondents’ ● page 48 — U:A Club of China "Under Intellifusion, a ShenWatch - Report 2018" zhen-based AI firm that provides technology to ● page 45 — U the city's police to display the faces of jaywalkers The eyeglass-mounted camera is equipped with on large LED screens facial-recognition techat intersections, is now nology capable of “highly talking with local mobile phone carriers and social effective screening” of media platforms such as crowds for fugitives traveling under false preten- WeChat and Sina Weibo ses, the official People’s to develop a system Daily newspaper reported where offenders receive personal texts as soon as Monday. While the technology is probably useful they violate the rules, according to Mr Wang Jun, in catching criminals, it could also make it easier the company's director of for authorities to track marketing solutions. political dissidents and South China Morning Post "Shenzhen to notify profile ethnic minorities. jaywalkers of offence via The Wall Street Journal text message", 2018 "Chinese Police Add Facial-Recognition Glasses to Surveillance Arsenal", ● page 49 — U:A To 2018 improve the standards of public restrooms, about 70,000 of them have been ● page 47 — A "In Kashgar, we booked built or renovated at rooms at two different ho- tourist sites across China tels, received the booking between 2015 and 2017. confirmations, only to be And some fitted with
facial recognition technology: toilet paper dispensers that remember the face of the user to set a limit on the amount of toilet paper one can take. Channel New Asia "From dispensing toilet paper to shaming jaywalkers, China powers up on facial recognition", 2019
● page 50 — U Tencent, the Chinese tech giant that owns WeChat, says that they do not store any chat histories, also if some users have found their texts partially deleted. The App encrypts messages only between the user and WeChat’s servers, often located in Shanghai, meaning that they can keep a record of all the texts. EagleVision Times "More Evidence WeChat Is Recording Private Messages for Beijing to Spy on Users", 2018 ● page 52 — U Alipay has launched a new way to pay KFC in China — by smiling. So far, the facial payment system is only available at a single KFC in Hangzhou, China. The company behind the technology, Ant Financial, an Alibaba subsidiary, says its Smileto-Pay technology needs about one to two seconds of facial scanning with a 3D camera and a “liveness detection algorithm” to check the identity of
131 the person paying, who must also enter the phone number to help guard against fraud. The Verge "KFC in China tests letting people pay by smiling", 2017
● page 53 — U Starting February 1st, 2019, Chinese police officers are exempt from legal responsibility for any damage they might cause to the property or interests of individuals or organisations while in the course of their duty. In the event of an officer damaging the legitimate rights or interests of a citizen or institution, the injured party would, however, still be entitled to compensation from the relevant public security authority. South China Morning Post "Chinese police officers given exemption from prosecution", 2018
name, home address, age, sex, nationality, dates of birth, photos, employer, ID card numbers, ID card issue date. For each user there is also a list of GPS coordinates, as well as the locations where that user had been seen, all collected by a list of 1,039 unique "trackers", or locations of public cameras from where video had been captured (mostly public places with many surveillance cameras). Eyerys.com " Chinese Company Inadvertently Left Muslim-Tracking Database Exposed On The Internet For Months", 2019
● page 58 — U “Five kinds of suspicious people have been detained and sent to education camps: people who throw away their mobile phone’s SIM card or did not use their phone after registering it; ● page 56 — U former prisoners already The activist Peter Dahlin released from prison; spent 23 days in a ‘black blacklisted people; prison’ in Beijing, where ‘suspicious people’ who he says he was deprived have some fundamental of sleep and questioned religious sentiment; and the people who have rewith a ‘communication latives abroad,” a female enhancement’ machine. police officer from far The Guardian "A human rights activist, a secret western Xinjiang told RFA. prison and a tale from Xi Radio Free Asia "China Jinping's new China", 2017 Runs Region-wide Re-education Camps in Xinjiang for Uyghurs And ● page 57 — C Other Muslims", 2017 The SenseNet database contains highly detailed information: people's full
● page 59 — C China's governance is based on goodwill. But some Westerners interfere because of the difference between China and the West in governance. Although not all of the West's accusations against China's human rights are malicious, they are biased, rude and impatient. Most of the Western accusations of Chinese mainland violations of human rights concentrate on local dissidents, governance of ethnic minorities in border areas. But the mainland is pursuing its own justified goals: safeguarding social order and stability, preventing national split and terrorism activities and securing national security. Global Times (CN) "Bias stops West seeing real Xinjiang", 2018 ● page 63 — C "To be a civil servant or work in a state enterprise, it's almost obligatory to be in the party. It's like a diploma. It opens doors." Not just anyone can join: candidates must apply or be recommended, most often by a university professor or their company's party cell. Then, a long selection process begins: courses, dissertations, exams, interviews and a probationary period. At the end, the CCP chooses candidates based on
132 their high education level, political reliability, or ability to bring something extra to the table. Digital Journal "Communism is 'beyond' them, but Chinese still flock to the party", 2018
● page 64 — A In the country there are about 145,000 registered internet cafes. Visitors pay a small hourly fee of about 50 cents, plus the cost of soft drinks, to use the PCs. Some chat and check emails, but most people while away hours playing games. Although the law prohibits anyone younger than 18, minors often sneak into these "hotbeds of juvenile crime and depravity," as the Communist Youth League once described them. Wired "Inside a chinese internet cafe where gamers while away their days", 2018 ● page 65 — A A journalist with a Western news outlet, along with two colleagues, went on a reporting trip to Xinjiang. After arriving at the airport they were stopped at a checkpoint and officers began following their taxi. Later they went to Kashgar, where police also followed them and constantly harassed their taxi drivers with repeated phone calls, often preventing them
from driving to their destinations. In Peyzawat County, where they were trying to visit a school, their taxi driver appears to have been ordered to drive them around in circles. The driver eventually took them to their destination, where half a dozen or so officials and officers from various departments stopped them and took turns examining their photos and videos and deleting them. Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China "Under Watch - Report 2018"
treatment in the approval of projects and the promotion of subordinates. Wikipedia
● page 68 — A But the state can also surveil massively at a distance, for example through intercepting online communication and camera tracking. Surveillance also creeps into journalists’ private lives. "I have witnessed files been moved in my laptop, also in my phone I have actually seen them in my Gmail opening and closing files. This instance was at 2 a.m. in the ● page 66 — A A second Polish journalist morning. I had a very high level of surveillance in my has been refused a visa home and office, on phofor China, three months ne, all communications after his colleague was apps: Wechat, Gmail, also “blacklisted” and denied entry into the ABC email, malware in my phone, etc." - Matthew country. ipi.media " Polish journa- Carney, Australian Brolists ‘blacklisted’, denied adcasting Corporation. Foreign Correspondents’ visas by China", 2017 Club of China "Under Watch - Report 2018" ● page 67 — C In February 2015, Bai ● page 70 — U Yu (a Chinese regional An estimated two million politician) was accused Uighurs and other Muof taking "massive bribes" slims have been rounded and abuse of power, up and detained in the and expelled from the Re-Education camps Communist Party. The where they are forced to prosecution accused undergo patriotic training Bai of taking some 17.81 and “de-extremification”, million yuan in bribes according to witnesses from the chief executive and human rights groups. of an environmental China at first denied the engineering company and existence of the camps. "16 other individuals," in But after an UN review exchange for favourable and the BBC investigation
133 in October 2018, Beijing launched a propaganda campaign portraying the camps as humane job training centres. But the growing weight of testimony of victims, witnesses, and now the availability of high resolution satellite imagery, reveals the fast-tracked expansion of a re-education camp network that appears set to become a permanent feature of life in Xinjiang. ABC "China’s frontier of fear", 2018
● page 72 — U ● page 74 — U ● page 77 — U ● page 78 — U
cuments — and in some cases, the personal information of their French spouses. Police officers from local public security bureaus in China have asked French Uighurs to send their home, school, and work addresses, photos, scans of their French or Chinese ID cards, and, in some cases, the ID cards of their spouses and scans of their marriage certificates if they were married in France. Foreign Policy "Chinese Police Are Demanding Personal Information From Uighurs in France", 2018
complaints against local officials, amid a massive "stability maintenance" operation in the run-up to a five-yearly congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party later this month. Activists estimate that as many as 10,000 people across China are being held under house arrest, in some form of detention, or round-theclock surveillance. Radio Free Asia "China Cracks Down on 'Thousands' of Petitioners Ahead of Party Congress", 2017
● page 82 — C The Police Cloud System ● page 76 — C scoops up information Testimony from a young The Central Commission from people’s medical Uighur man studying in for Discipline Inspection history, to their superthe United States, torn (CCDI) is the top anmarket membership, to from the American uniti-corruption body of the delivery records, much versity where he studied, Communist Party of Chi- of which is linked to to a Chinese gulag. na, tasked with enforcing people’s unique national Foreign Policy "A Summer internal rules and regula- identification numbers. Vacation in China’s Mutions and combating cor- This allows to track slim Gulag", 2018 ruption and malfeasance where the individuals in the Party. Discipline have been, who they are inspection commissions ● page 73 — U with, and what they have Police shot dead two eth- do have privileged access been doing, as well as to information about nic Uighurs in southern make predictions about China as they tried to people. Their control over their future activities. It is illegally cross the border networks of informers designed to uncover relaand personal files makes tionships between events into Vietnam. Telegraph "Chinese police them particularly feared. and people “hidden” to BBC News "How China is the police by analyzing, shoot dead two Uighurs on Vietnam border", 2015 ruled: Discipline Commis- for example, who has sion", 2012 been staying in a hotel or travelling together. It can ● page 75 — U also alert the police to Chinese police are ● page 81 — C demanding that Uighurs Authorities in China have activity that might seem unusual – such as when living in France hand over launched a nationwide personal information, crackdown on thousands someone who has a local residence frequently photos, and identity doof people pursuing
134 stays in a local hotel. Humans Right Voice "China: Police ‘Big Data’ Systems Violate Privacy, Target Dissent", 2017
● page 85 — C Following a practice which dates back to imperial times, hundreds of thousands of petitioners from across China stream into Beijing each year in the hope that their grievances, often spawned by local officials, will be rectified once central authorities are made aware of their plight. Duolun’s county government said it spent 335,000 yuan (US$48,650) on costs including overtime for night-time surveillance, “extra security” and – ostensibly to feed those working shifts – a “canteen” staffed by 10 workers. South China Morning Post "Chinese county’s rare disclosure sheds light on plight of nation’s petitioners", 2017 ● page 87 — C Every province has a Communist Party of China provincial committee headed by a secretary. The committee secretary is effectively in charge of the province, rather than the nominal governor of the provincial government. Wikipedia ● page 92 — C If one individual sums up the values gap between
a rising China and the West, it may well be Chen Quanguo. The most senior Communist Party official in the far western region of Xinjiang is the architect behind a crackdown against Muslim minority Uighurs. The United Nations says the campaign has placed as many as 1 million of them -- roughly a tenth of the territory’s population -- in “re-education camps.” Bloomberg "The Architect of China's Muslim Camps Is a Rising Star Under Xi", 2018
In March 2018 meeting, China’s National People’s Congress approved a constitutional amendment creating a super-sized anti-corruption body called the National Supervision Commission and adopted a Supervision Law to govern its operations. The National Supervision Commission leads local commissions at the provincial, city, and county levels. Their authority is much broader than before, and they enjoy more investigatory powers, including the controversial power of ● page 94 — C detention. One Weibo user observed The Diplomat "What’s So that the retractable came- Controversial About Chira self-activates whenena’s New Anti-Corruption ver he opens a new chat Body?", 2018 on Telegram, a messaging application designed for ● page 97 — C China officially launched secured and encrypted a website to live broacommunication. A Vivo dcast court trials Tuesday NEX user found that in the latest move to once she had installed increase judicial tranBaidu’s voice input system, it would activate sparency. The website, tingshen.court.gov.cn, the phone’s camera and sound recording function is China's fourth online whenever the user platform for publicizing court information, folopened any application. Baidu has been notorious lowing three websites for disclosing trial procedufor snooping into users’ res, judgement documenprivate data and activities (phone conversations ts and the enforcement of and accessing their court decisions. geo-location data without China.org.cn "China launches website live user consent). broadcasting court trials", TechAeris "Mobile pho2016 nes in China are spying on users through their cameras", 2018 ● page 99 — C China has the largest monitoring system in the ● page 95 — C
135 world. There are some 170 million CCTV cameras across the country, and that’s tipped to grow more than three-fold with 400 million more set to be installed by 2020. International Business Times "Caught in 7 minutes flat: China CCTV network displays its awesome surveillance capability", 2017 Youtube "China: "the world's biggest camera surveillance network" BBC News, 2017
● page 100 — C Qincheng is the most elusive prison in China, directly controlled by the top of the Communist Party. The facility, 30 or so kilometres outside of central Beijing in Changping, was built in 1958 with the help of the Soviet Union. Today, there is no sign outside the main gate, nor is there barbed wire above its high walls, though there are surveillance cameras in the courtyard. South China Morning Post "The tigers' cage: inside China's Qincheng prison", 2018 ● page 101 — C Prisoners aged over 60 can look forward to a Lunar New Year meal with a few family members. South China Morning Post "Xi Jinping’s anti-graft drive has caught so many officials that Beijing’s elite prison is running out of cells", 2018
had been sentenced to a decade in jail for owning "On two separate occathe 'wrong' books. No sions, my phone call was sooner did I say the word interrupted and I heard a 'jail' than the manager’s recording of my call being head began to twitch in played back down the the direction of the table line to me instead of the behind ours." person I was talking to. The Guardian "‘We’re a This happened once with people destroyed’: why a colleague and once with Uighur Muslims across my 8 year old son, which China are living in fear", was highly distressing" 2018 - Kathy Long, British Broadcasting Corporation. ● page 107 — C Foreign Correspondents’ The Chinese government Club of China "Under has flatly denied the Watch - Report 2018" existence of black jails. These prisons appear to have emerged since ● page 105 — C China's social credit sythe Chinese government stem expands that idea to abolished laws permitting all aspects of life, judging the arbitrary detention citizens' behaviour and of non-residents and trustworthiness. Caught vagrants. Black jail guards jaywalking, don't pay a routinely subject these court bill, play your music detainees to abuses too loud on the train — including physical violence, theft, extortion, you could lose certain rights, such as booking a threats, intimidation, flight or train ticket. The and deprivation of food, system is intended to be sleep, and medical care. Humans Right Watch standardised by 2020. Wired UK "The complica- "China: Secret “Black Jails” Hide Severe Rights ted truth about China's social credit system", Abuses", 2009 2019 ● page 108 — A One of the Hikvision's ● page 106 — C projects (a company that "There was also the fear of always being watched. realise video surveillanOnce I sat down with a ce products) is a 309 million-yuan contract manager of a restaurant for rural Moyu county, in eastern China and, unable to avoid the topic, where spending on public spoke to him about how security almost quadruoppressive things had be- pled year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2017. A come in Xinjiang, telling tender obtained by AFP him about a friend who
● page 103 — A
136 detailed a network of around 35,000 cameras that would monitor the county's schools, streets, offices and 967 mosques, where they will ensure that imams stick to a "unified" government script. France24 "Chinese firms cash in on Xinjiang's growing police state", 2018
● page 113 — C Televised confessions have become a trend in the past years under Xi Jinping's presidency, and include confessions of crime, but also confessions of perceived dissent. BBC News " How seriously do Chinese take 'confession' videos?", 2016
Liu, 34, sentenced to 13 years for illegally owning guns to shoot rabbits. “Most people here committed crimes for money,” said Liu. There were three Chinese in their late fifties like me, in the green vests worn by inmates with chronic illnesses. All three were wealthy businessmen, hostile to the political system. All were awaiting trial, accused of fraud; all claimed to have been framed. The cell was nicknamed “sick men’s cell” by the others; I called it “the billionaires’ cell”. Financial Times "I was locked inside a steel cage’: Peter Humphrey on his life inside a Chinese prison", 2018
● page 118 — A The new “spy birds” As governments jailed a programme, code-named record number of journa- “Dove”, is being led by lists around the world in Song Bifeng, a professor 2017, a U.S.-based press at Northwestern Polytefreedom group says the chnical University in Xian, ruling Chinese Commucapital of northwestern nist Party has a total of China’s Shaanxi province. 41 journalists currently Song was formerly a behind bars under the senior scientist on the newly strengthened J-20 stealth jet programleadership of President Xi me and has already been Jinping. honoured by the People’s Radio Free Asia " China Liberation Army – China’s Has 41 Journalists Behind military – for his work Bars Amid Ever-Widening on Dove, according to Media Controls", 2017 information on the university website. South China Morning Post ● page 116 — A They moved me to Cell "China takes surveillance 203 and gave me an oran- to new heights with flock ge vest. My new boss was of robotic Doves, but do ● page 115 — A
they come in peace?", 2018
● page 120 — A There have been at least 45 forced televised confessions in China since 2013, according to the report from an Asian human rights NGO. Those coerced into confessing describe being dressed by police and handed a script they are required to memorise, and even being given directions on how to deliver certain lines or cry on cue, the report says. One person described enduring seven hours of recording for a television piece that ultimately amounted to several minutes. Others reported police ordering retakes of confessions they were unhappy with. The Guardian "China 'My hair turned white': report lifts lid on China's forced confessions" ● page 123 — A The "smart classroom behaviour management system," or "smart eye", is the latest highly-intrusive surveillance equipment to be rolled out in China, where leaders have rushed to use the latest technology to monitor the wider population.Some students are already changing their behaviour due to the increased monitoring. The Telegraph "Chinese school uses facial reco-
137 gnition to monitor student attention in class", 2018
● page 124 — A The Mandarin language, once known as “Han Yu” (the language of the Han) has been re-invented as “Guo Yu” (The National language). Any student heard speaking their own “Yu” on campus, in the dorms and particularly in class is severely reprimanded and told to speak the language of their country. The tell-tale warnings of looming monolingualism to come can be seen around the college grounds where Uighur script on previously bi-lingual signs has been crudely taped over, leaving only Mandarin. “We are even forbidden from talking to each other in our mother tongue,” said Gulnur, a first-year history major, for whom Mandarin does not come easily. Bitter Winter " The Orwellian Life in Xinjiang Campuses", 2018
138
Index Topics
● Identity
Blood Types :page 28 Hukou System :page 25 Population Data Form :page 27 Social Credit System :page 105
● Surveillance
CCTV Camera Network :page 96 Chinese People Dataset :page 37 Dove Drones :page 118 Jaywalking :page 48 Jingwang Weishi App :page 26 Mobile Phone Tracking :page 91 Smart Classroom Behavior Management :page 123 WeChat :page 50
● Biometric Database
Face scanner :page 49 Fingerprints and Voice Pattern :page 35 Handwriting database :page 55 Pay with a smile :page 52
●Xinjiang
Chen Quanguo :page 92 Bilingual signg deleted :page 124 Blacklist :page 42 Media Coverage :page 59 Passport Check :page 51 Phone Inspection :page 33 Surveillance in the shops :page 32 Uighurs living abroad :page 75
●Justice System
Black Jails :page 111 Brainwashing :page 78 Daily routine in Prison :page 72 Forced Labour :page 74 Ministry of Justice of PRC :page 112 Nourishment :page 77 Quincheng Prison :page 100 Re-Education Centers :page 70 Trials broadcasted :page 97
● Law Enforcement
AR Eyeglasses :page 45 CPC Provincial Committee :page 87 Central Commission for Discipline Inspection :page 76 Interrogation :page 55 National Supervisory Commission :page 95 People’s Police of PRC :page 53 Petitioners :page 81 Plainclothes Policemen :page 114 Public Security Bureau :page 56 Police Cloud Database :page 82 Politburo :page 31
● Foreign Correspondents
Distorted phone calls :page 88 Journalist locked up in prisons :page 115 No privacy :page 86 Problems with hotel bookings :page 47 Shorter Visa :page 39 Taxi diverted :page 65 VPN and Internet Connection :page 41
139
33
51
48
50
75
U3
U1
73
46
44
45
36
42
34
52
35
54
49
38
85
81 83
63
59
84
67
57
87
79
62
39
26
29
31
25
27
30
24
37
32
28
C
U
82
76
94
91
43
103
68 88
65 86
96
69
64
60
66
61
47
41
40
A
140
Flowchart
74
58
55
78
U3
72
70
56
53
77
80
105 P2
101 P1
100
J1
118
97
113 P3 122
104
120
116
115
107
108 114
117
109
106
110
89
102
99
95
112
92
126 J3
124
98
90
125 J2
123
93
121
141
142
结束?
â&#x20AC;¢REC
:in:China Gamebook
1 Country 3 Characters 9 Plotlines 170.000.000 CCTV Cameras