Activist Post
The Chinese government is considering vastly expanding its network of surveillance and observation satellites that would build their network's stature to the size, or even larger, than the one operated by the United States.
China cited the frustrating, so far failed, search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 as a reason to expand its global scope of surveillance which has gained support from Beijing lawmakers.
“If we had a global monitoring network today, we wouldn’t be searching in the dark. We would have a much greater chance to find the plane and trace it to its final position,” Professor Chi Tianhe, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth told The South China Morning Post.
“The plan is being drafted to expand our regional monitoring capability to global coverage.”
If the plan gets the go-ahead from lawmakers its expected to launch in as few as two years.
The Chinese government's current satellite surveillance capabilities are a state secret, though it is thought that most carry out surveillance over China and closely surrounding regions.
There are more than 1,000 satellites in orbit above the earth, most used for communication. According to statistics from the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists, 50 are earth-observation, remote-sensing and military-surveillance satellites.
This is a prime example of government never letting a “crisis go to waste”. (You might remember Rahm Emanuel famously saying.)
In a world where privacy is quickly vanishing in the name of fighting terrorism, the Chinese government is now bringing humanity closer to the total surveillance state that many are beginning to fear.
Paul Lawrance writes for Eyes Open Report, where this first appeared.
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