China 'morphing into ultimate Orwellian state to keep Communists in power'

THE SUN

CHINA is morphing into the “most sophisticated Orwellian police state” in the world, a former US defence official has warned.

Michael Beckley, who advises the Pentagon and US intelligence community on China, said the dictator Xi Jinping is set to “tighten control over every aspect of society”.

And he predicted the Communist Party’s surveillance will grow more invasive to maintain its iron fist rule.

Highly advanced and “invasive” digital technologies have become a central part of the Chinese state – with people both online and offline kept under constant observation as the government tightens its controlling grip.

Experts estimate more than half of the world’s nearly one billion CCTV cameras are in China, and cops are now collecting “voice prints” using recorders on facial recognition cameras.

Chinese police are buying equipment to build DNA databases, and tracking the phones of millions of Chinese citizens using WiFi “sniffers”.

It means the state is well prepared to crackdown on dissent.

Michael, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Tufts University, said the Chinese state is set to “tighten control over every aspect of society”.

Speaking on the Intelligence Squared US podcast, he said: “I don’t think the CCP will lose control and the regime will collapse because they’ve built up the most sophisticated Orwellian police state.

“We’ve seen China has been willing to roll tanks into the streets… I don’t foresee a popular revolution toppling the regime.”