China's Golden Shield

Book excerpt: The advent of modern communication technology has brought new challenges for human rights advocates, particularly those living under repressive regimes. This report reveals how sophisticated technology, developed in Canada and promoted through a series of national and international processes, could undermine the principals enshrined in human rights agreements. It discusses China's Golden Shield project, which ultimately aims to integrate an online database with an all-encompassing surveillance network incorporating speech and face recognition, closed-circuit television, smart cards, credit records, and Internet surveillance technologies. It also provides a summary of Canada's trade promotion and human rights activities in China and a review of China's Internet regulations and domestic legislation.