We’ve all sat on the bus or on the subway, bored stiff, with nothing to watch but the LCD screen playing the same programs again and again and again. The bus has taught me how to cook stir fried squid, how to choose the right size socks, and the cartoons on the subway have kept my toddler son, who absolutely hates riding the underground, occupied for at least ten precious minutes. Recently we’ve read that Subway Line 4, when it opens, will include live programming on its LCD screens, which means that subway passengers will not have to sit through boring and repetitive programs, but will instead be able to see sportscasts, popular TV shows, concerts and more. As subway commutes get longer and more common among Beijing’s population, who would object to a bit more entertainment?

Photo: _mixer_

There was one more detail, however, about the new live feeds that caught our attention, however, and that was how the LCD screens on Line 4 will double as surveillance cameras. This is reportedly for our own safety, and admittedly one can, off the top of one’s head, think of many plausible reasons why it might be a good idea to have camera surveillance on subways. Pickpocketing is a huge problem in subways not just in Beijing, but all over the world, and I imagine a few would-be thieves would be deterred by the idea that they were being monitored in real time by the authorities. Of course, there are even more dangerous scenarios than petty robbery. Just last year two people were killed when a bus was bombed in Kunming, and in the UK, London knows all too well the catastrophic potential of attacks on a city’s subway system. Certainly China has reasons for wanting cameras on its subways, and in this day and age, who can blame the government for taking precautions?

Well, some can. The live monitors to be installed on Line 4 have been met with criticism by some, who claim that China is going overboard with the monitoring. With this year’s all important 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC fast approaching, China has drastically stepped up its security measures, installing 2.75 million surveillance cameras since 2003. Surveillance cameras are, of course, not unique to China, and while the 2.75 million figure may seem shocking, the number of cameras working in the UK, for example, is almost double that amount. Surveillance cameras are ostensibly used to prevent crime, but studies show that they actually have had little effect on crime prevention, as people are often not easily identifiable on camera, and the evidence supplied by cameras is not always useful. So if cameras don’t always help us catch criminals, then what’s the point? Some would argue deterrence. The very idea of being monitored might be enough to keep some criminals from acting, or, at least from acting in areas where they know there are cameras. Video camera surveillance is one of the most obvious means of “watching” the people, as most cameras are not hidden, even in China.

Photo: Flynn Wynn

Which brings us back to the Line 4 cameras, which, you may recall, are going to look, for all outward appearances, like TV screens. Although it is no secret, obviously, that these TVs will have camera capabilities, it is also likely that most passengers will not know they are being watched. Does this sort of surveillance cross a line? It is hard to say. While most of us would frown upon hidden cameras in day to day situations, I think that many would also agree that public transportation is a sort of grey area, where certain measures do need to be taken that would not necessarily be acceptable in other situations. It wasn’t that long ago, after all, that we started reading about Air Marshals in the USA, undercover law enforcement agents aboard commercial airlines in order to prevent hijackings and terrorist attacks. Some would consider potentially sitting next to an undercover agent each time you got on a plane a bigger invasion of privacy than a security camera on the subway. The American public has, grudgingly, agreed (or been forced, depending on your perspective) to give up many of its freedoms in exchange for security. Is China really asking any more or less of its own citizens? It is easy to jump on China’s case about the surveillance (see a recent article by the Daily Mail with the predictably inflammatory language about China here), but Western countries have long since been doing the exact same thing, in the name of security. One thing is for sure, it does seem certain that in the coming years we will see more, not less, surveillance from China, and possibly from our various home countries. The question becomes then, do we trust them to watch us? That is not a question simply for China alone, but one that each of us must ask of our own country, our own government.

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Related Links

Live TV is to be Available on Line 4
China Says 2.75 Million Security Cameras Installed
Security for 60th anniversary beefed up
Shanghai Metro's New Operation System

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