We have been harmonised: Life in China's Surveillance State - Softcover

Kai Strittmatter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1913083004 ISBN 13: 9781913083007

Publisher: Old Street Publishing, 2019

Synopsis

*A SUNDAY TIMES BEST BOOK SO FAR OF 2019*
LIFE IN CHINA'S SURVEILLANCE STATE
In China's shiny new 'Smart Cities', citizens can scarcely cross the road or buy an orange without the Party knowing, and posting a satirical online comment about President Xi's Winnie-the-Pooh-like features can land you in jail. A generation after the tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square, China's autocratic leaders are using powerful new technologies to create the largest and most effective surveillance state the world has ever seen.  This is a journey into a land where Big Brother has acquired a whole new set of toys with which to control and cajole -- 'harmonise' -- the masses. It is also a warning against Western complacency. Beijing is already finding eager buyers for its 'Operating System for Dictators' -- in Africa and Asia, Russia and the Middle East. And with China's corporate giants -- all ultimately under Party control -- being offered a place at the heart of Europe's vital infrastructure, it is time we paid attention.

About this title

Review:

*OBSERVER BOOK OF THE WEEK*
'Remarkable... the most accessible and best informed account we have had to date of China's transition from ''networked authoritarianism'' to what is now a form of networked totalitarianism'
OBSERVER

'This chilling book reveals just how far China has already gone in monitoring and controlling its citizens digitally... deeply researched and compellingly argued... [Strittmatter] breaks new ground by forcing readers to confront the effect that technological change has had on the power of the state... a lucid guide to the system and a warning call'
SUNDAY TIMES

'The unholy alliance of Artificial Intelligence with an unscrupulous human intelligence... this is the dark subject on which Strittmatter shines a much-needed light. His book should be read by everyone, not just those interested in China'
FAZ --...

About the Author:

Kai Strittmatter has studied China for more than 30 years. For over a decade he lived and worked there as a correspondent for the national broadsheet Sueddeutsche Zeitung, taking the decision to leave the country prior to publication of this book. He is the author of China A-Z.

About this edition

• Publisher: Old Street Publishing
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1913083004
• ISBN 13: 9781913083007
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336