Chinascope – Page 458

China’s Gait Recognition Software, a New Weapon for Surveillance?

A Chinese firm recently released a gait recognition machine which uses the way people walk to identify them. Police in some cities have already deployed this tool.

According to the Chinese newspaper, the Yangtse Evening Post, the system is named “Shui Di Shen Jian (水滴神鉴).” It uses the characteristics of the human gait as the object and conducts rapid searches for and identification of people in massive video clips through the gait recognition technology. It has the ability to achieve a retrieval speed six times faster than other methods. With this technology, it only takes 10 minutes to screen a one-hour video with an accuracy rate of 94 percent.

Associated Press reported on November 5 that the Chinese police have already used the system on the streets of Beijing and Shanghai. “‘Gait recognition’ is part of a push across China to develop artificial-intelligence and data-driven surveillance that is raising concern about how far the technology will go.”

The developer of the tool Watrix announced last month that it had raised 100 million yuan (US$14.5 million) to step up the development and sale of the technology. Chinese police have been using facial recognition technology to monitor people and arrest pedestrians who violate traffic rules. The Police in Xinjiang, who are using facial recognition to monitor Muslim communities, are said to be interested in acquiring gait recognition products.

Huang Yongzhen, the CEO of Watrix, said using biotech to maintain social stability and managing the society is an inevitable trend and a perfect business opportunity as well.

Gait recognition technology is not a new technology. Defense information agencies in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States have been studying the technology for years. Japanese police has been experimenting with gait recognition technology since 2013, but they have not yet tried to commercialize this technology. China is charging ahead because of its emphasis on social control.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 6, 2018
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/nu-11062018100430.html

Briefings | | November 12, 2018 | Information/Technology

European Union Chamber of Commerce: EU Lost Confidence in Xi’s Promises to Open China’s Market

Radio France Internationale reported that, at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), Chinese President Xi Jinping made a commitment to continue to open up the Chinese market and give fair treatment to foreign companies doing business in China. The statement did not augment the EU’s confidence in China. Carlo D’Andrea, vice president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and chairman of the Shanghai Chapter expressed his disappointment on Tuesday. In the statement that the European Union Chamber of Commerce issued, he pointed out that much of the content in the speech that Xi delivered echoed what had previously been announced. There were two developments in the speech that were noted, which were removing caps on foreign investments in education and in medical services. According to the RFI article, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China believes that, since the previous commitments have not been fulfilled, the European Union has become increasingly insensitive to the promises that China has made. Kenneth Jarrett, the President of the Shanghai office of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said that so far, as the world’s second largest economy, China should be able to open its doors. According to Andrea, China will not be considered to have made a major and positive structural change until it allows international companies to compete with Chinese companies on an equal basis. In his interview with Bloomberg, Andrea said that Xi promised to open up China’s market during the Davos Forum in 2017 but many promises have not been fulfilled. The EU believes that China has more than one hundred restrictions on foreign companies in China, and the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China recently issued the “Shanghai Proposal 2018-2019,” which details the acts that the EU hopes China can take in order to let Shanghai become one of the world’s financial market centers. “2020 is the time that Shanghai has set for itself to be the center of the world’s financial market, and as of now, there is way too much incomplete homework to do.”

Source: Radio France Internationale, November 6, 2018
http://rfi.my/3Ig6.T

Briefings | | November 8, 2018 | Geo-Strategic Trend

CNA: Survey Shows Most Hong Kong Youths Do Not Identify Themselves as Chinese

According to an article that the Central News Agency published, a recent survey showed that 45 percent of Hong Kong youths do not identify themselves as Chinese. This is the result of a survey that the Zhuhai College Public Opinion and Polling Research Center conducted in August. A total of 1,000 Hong Kong youths, aged 15 to 24, were interviewed. The survey also showed that 58 percent do not recognize themselves as residents of the Greater Bay Area (Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao) and 52.6 percent do not agree with the concept of the integration of Hong Kong with mainland China. The research center pointed out that respondents have a strong sense of local identity. They think that Hong Kong offers a greater advantage in schooling, employment, or starting a business compared to what the mainland offers. It is widely believed that after the outbreak of the “Occupy Central Movement” in Hong Kong at the end of 2014, a sense of localism developed in Hong Kong. Most of the participants were young people. They did not agree with having the identity of Chinese and refused to integrate with the Chinese mainland.

Source: Central News Agency, November 6, 2018
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201811060321.aspx

Briefings | | November 8, 2018 | Government/Politics

VOA: Two Scholars from Beijing Unirule Institute of Economics Prevented from Attending a Research Discussion in the U.S.

Voice of America (VOA) reported that two scholars from the Beijing Unirule Institute of Economics were prevented from leaving China to attend a research discussion on “China’s 40 years of reform and opening up” which the Unirule Institute of Economics and the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies held jointly. The head of the Unirule Institute of Economics told VOA that he attends academic exchange activities every year and traveled overseas just a few months ago. However, on November 1, he was told, while waiting at the Beijing Airport, that he could not to leave the country because it would “endanger national security.” Another scholar was also stopped at the airport but was not given a reason. Close to 20 scholars were invited to the forum. Some have left but a few people “changed their minds” and decided not to attend. This academic event was held on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Source: Voice of America, November 8, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/4646440.html

Briefings | | November 8, 2018 | Government/Politics

China’s Increasing Presence in European Electricity Sector

Le Figaro, a French daily newspaper, recently carried an article on China’s increasing influence over the European electric power supply network. The article quoted from the World Energy Markets Observatory (WEMO) report of 2018, that Capgemini, a French consulting firm headquartered in Paris, had published. China, according to the report, is “the world’s second largest consumer of energy, the leading emitter of Greenhouse Gases (GHG), a significant energy equipment supplier, and a key player in critical resources. It has also become an important investor in electric companies.”

The report pointed out that a key strategy of Chinese expansion in Europe is to increase its control or influence over the continent’s electric power supply network. Chinese investment has already gained access to the electric sectors of Portugal, Italy, Greece, Malta, and the United Kingdom. It was due to the opposition of the German government that China did not have success in Germany. For energy experts, the control of the power supply network is of great strategic importance. Moreover, China is the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels, and is in a leading position in the field of wind energy. The Chinese government is currently investing in large-scale research and development of electricity storage and aims to export Chinese-made batteries to the world in the near future.

However, the problem is that in the process of producing the above-mentioned green energy products, Chinese companies will emit a large amount of greenhouse gases. In addition, China also exports a large number of its own thermal power plants. In addition, the Chinese government will obviously be unable to achieve its goal of CO2 reduction, which is the total coal-fired power generation of less than 1,100 gigawatts, by 2020.

Source: Radio France International, November 6, 2018
http://rfi.my/3Ihk.T

Briefings | | November 8, 2018 | Economy/Resources

A Large Amount of Gold Is Flowing into China

Taiwanese online news site Tech News recently reported that multiple wealth management providers have been recommending to nearly all of their wealthy Chinese clients to stock up on gold. According to Swiss Customs data, in September, Switzerland imported 223.3 tons of gold and exported 118 tons. Both were peak points in the past two years. Most of the Swiss gold that was imported (around 70 percent) was from London and New York. The destinations for Swiss exports were mainly in Asia. India is one of the largest gold consumers; its September gold imports decreased by 115 tons. Unexpectedly, exports to Hong Kong alone increased from 3.3 tons to 28.7 tons. China and Hong Kong together saw that gold imports increased by 160 tons. Typically, gold stays in London and New York for banks to trade among themselves. However, this time physical gold has been flowing out and has never circled back.

Source: Tech News, October 30, 2018
https:// technews.tw/2018/10/30/china-rich-people-gold/

Briefings | | November 6, 2018 | Economy/Resources

China Finance Online: CCP Politburo Met to Discuss Strategy to Stabilize the Economy

China Finance Online, China’s only online financial information service listed on NASDAQ, recently reported that the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party met on October 31 to focus on the strategy for stabilizing the economy. The meeting reviewed the macro-economy for the past three quarters and confirmed an increase in the downward pressure, especially relating to long-term risks. The meeting also analyzed the primary cause of the current economic challenges and identified the “deep changes” that are occurring “externally.” As for the next steps, the meeting also specified the focal points for immediate action. These will include a new mention of “capital market reform” in addition to stabilizing the job market, the financial market, foreign trade, foreign investments, government investments and market expectations. Interestingly, the meeting did not mention de-leveraging policy, and did not mention real estate market adjustments. Experts expressed their belief that the meeting is an important and timely meeting, which acknowledged the significant pressure and “external changes,” and pointed in the direction of a market-oriented action list.

Source: China Finance Online, November 1, 2018
http://finance.jrj.com.cn/2018/11/01064925289316.shtml

Briefings | | November 6, 2018 | Economy/Resources

Wu Guoguang: Xi Jinping’s Reversal of the Course, Will China’s Transition be Peaceful or Marked with Bloodshed?

Cheng Xiaonong: U.S.-China Strategic Relations Have Crystallized

Xinhua Commentaries: “Exposing the Three Major Political Deficits of the U.S.”

The CCP’s Performing Arts Troupes in the U.S.