A surveillance system set up by the Chinese Communist Party is monitoring the real-time locations, relationships, and activities of foreigners in China. Known as the Dynamic Control Platform for Overseas Personnel, this system uses security cameras, facial recognition, visa records, and mobile app data to track foreign individuals. Foreign journalists and other sensitive individuals are the main targets of this surveillance.
The platform specifically focuses on groups like citizens of the ‘Five Eyes’ alliance, which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It tracks the exact whereabouts of these citizens within Chinese cities, even down to the neighborhood block level. The CCP’s extensive surveillance network has significantly increased vigilance among foreign visitors.
The database maintained by this system contains detailed information such as photos, country of origin, employer, names in English and Chinese, date of birth, citizenship, passport numbers, and Chinese mobile numbers. It allows tracking of relationships, identifying classmates, colleagues, neighbors, and even individuals spotted together on camera. China currently has one monitoring device for every two citizens, with over 700 million surveillance cameras in operation.
Apart from monitoring foreigners, the CCP has also restricted the entry of several independent media outlets into the country. Multiple American journalists, including The Epoch Times White House correspondent Travis Gillmore and NTD Television reporter Mari Otsu, were denied visas by the CCP. China holds 116 media professionals in detention, making it the world’s largest jailer of the press. The country ranks third from the bottom in the World Press Freedom Index, just above North Korea and Eritrea.
