Channels, Fall 2018

Channels • 2018 • Volume 3 • Number 1 Page 137 CPC points toward the ultimate goal of “safe” and “smart cities” (Zhang, 2016), cities in which the economic processes necessary for proliferation of the Chinese zone of influence may proceed unhindered, be it from foreign threats or from domestic dissent. This policy is exemplified most obviously in the Golden Shield project, a comprehensive security measure enacted near the turn of the century that includes the infamous “Great Firewall of China,” a nation-wide internet censorship program, and also facilitates the installation of blanket CCTV networks equipped with the most advanced facial recognition software and movement tracking capabilities throughout most of urban mainland China. The effectiveness of this system was put to the test in an experiment by the BBC and national government in 2017. In the experiment, BBC reporter John Sudworth was sent to roam the streets of Guiyang, an inland southwestern urban center, and purposed to avoid being detected and apprehended for as long as possible. According to the BBC and Chinese officials, approximately seven minutes elapsed from the time Sudworth’s photo was given to the local CCTV control and monitoring center to the time of his apprehension by local police (BBC, 2017). The same study reported that the Golden Shield project has already installed over 170 million CCTV cameras (about one camera per eight people) throughout urban mainland China, and projects an additional 400 million-plus being installed by 2020. This impressive level of efficiency and widespread dissemination of CCTV networks provide significant cause for worry to citizens of the PRC and the world that place a great emphasis on the primacy of the individual. Being a historically Confucian nation, the general populace operates on a much more collectivistic basis and the people are traditionally more accustomed to a higher power distance, but that does not necessarily clear away the fact that the PRC is rated in the 14th percentile in the 2018 Freedom House world ranking, which indicates that civic freedom and individual liberty are not particularly high priorities for the ruling authoritarian party. As such, little chance exists for concerned citizens to effect a change in governmental policy, especially in regard to a means by which said government maintains order and exerts its authority over its own territory. Given that condition, government-operated CCTV networks are likely to proliferate substantially within the near future as indicated above, with little or no inhibition from the citizens of the PRC. Analysis The comparison of economic policy as it relates to CCTV surveillances practices undertaken in this study demonstrates the commonality in orientation between the USA and the PRC, as it points to realist-leaning protection of the national economic power base. As the most prominent economies on the modern global scene, the two states enjoy the benefits of economic supremacy as it translates to greater power in the international system, both through dissemination of trade and the subsequent extension of influence in the global public and private sectors and through the ability to allocate resources to national security (including defense forces, associated technological research, and relevant government and private programs). This study sought, by means of case-by- case examination, to answer two research questions in regard to each country. First, how does each state demonstrate realist policies in the process of securing economic centers and the overall protection of its economy? Second, and more narrowly, how does the use of CCTV contribute to the security and functionality of major economic centers in each state? In the examination of the USA, it was found that realist policy has historically led the national government to pursue aggressive action in the global theater with the purpose of protecting economic interests and securing its dominance on the world scene. The PRC was found to demonstrate similar tendencies, at least in its intent to reestablish hegemony over its hemisphere, a position it has historically held (until circa 20th century) by means of its economic, cultural, and