China's Golden Shield

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"A human touch.
I want it to know who I am." (23)

At a trade show held in Beijing in November 2000, the biggest names in Web technology – "companies that proudly attach themselves overseas to the Internet’s reputation for anarchy" (24) – peddled their wares to China’s secret police and security officials. Billed as the "largest national security exhibition," Security China 2000 was the second such event sponsored by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) in as many years. Among the organizers listed was the "Chinese Communist Party Central Committee’s Commission for the Comprehensive Management of Social Security," (25) a body which is in overall charge of the state security apparatus, from controls over migrant workers, to anti-crime campaigns and monitoring dissident activity.

Shanghai Business Magazine recently estimated that the Chinese security industry is enjoying 15% annual growth. Overseas specialists cited in the trade journal Security World predict 20% growth for the next three to five years. China is expected to become the second largest security market after the US within 10 years. (26)

The trade show was organized by Hong Kong-based Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd. and drew approximately 300 companies from over 16 countries, as well as 24,500 visitors from over 26 of China’s provinces. Special guests included Jia Chunwang, Minister of Public Security. According to Adsale, in comparison to the first Security China exhibit in 1998, in 2000 "the show boasts a 50% increase in international exhibitors and an 80% growth in exhibit space area." (27) Exhibitors included network giants Siemens, Motorola, Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems, and Nortel Networks. There were participating companies from the US, Israel, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, and Canada, among others. The United Kingdom, world leader in closed-circuit TV, had a special section in the show.