Human Rights at Risk on the Cyber-battlefield: The Sale of Security & Surveillance Technology to China

"The cyber-battlefield is real. It`s a place where computers are used instead of guns, data packets instead of bullets, and firewalls are used instead of barbed wire." (1)

In collaboration with the Chinese Ministry for Public Security, Canada`s National Research Council (NRC) and the Canadian Police Research Centre sponsored a recent trade mission to China to explore China's growing demand for advanced surveillance technology and identify business opportunities related to security needs in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics to take place in the summer of 2008 (2).

The trade mission was just one part of a wider initiative to promote Canadian security and surveillance technology in the People's Republic of China . The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) recently announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding in collaboration with the NRC, the Canadian Police Research Centre and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security outlining a range of strategies to promote business partnerships in the hi-tech sector including the identification of opportunities to supply Canadian advanced technology and services to China's Golden Shield Project.

China 's Golden Shield project, described by CATA as "modernizing public safety and justice networks in China î (3) is an all-encompassing surveillance network — a gigantic online database - incorporating speech and face recognition, closed-circuit television, smart cards, credit records and Internet surveillance. It has been described by the Government of China as a means of strengthening central police control and improving efficiency and it was the subject of a major study by Rights & Democracy in 2001. (4)

Other initiatives announced by CATA included corporate participation within the Canadian Pavillion of the China Hi-Tech Fair held in Shenzhen earlier this month and organization of the Canadian Pavillion within the PT Expo Comm 2004 Trade Show in Beijing from October 26-30, 2004. All of these initiatives have been undertaken with the participation of the Canadian Embassy and its trade promotion offices in China.