2.75 million security surveillance cameras installed in China

Security cameras in China will become an increasingly regular sight in times to come. China´s police say they have installed 2.75 million surveillance cameras since 2003 and plan to deepen the system into the countryside, which is home to about 800 million of the country´s 1.3 billion people.

The cameras are the most discernible components of police surveillance, mainly in urban areas, according to a news release posted Monday on the Chinese Public Security Ministry´s Web site.

These camera alarm systems have proved controversial in other countries, like Britain, which reportedly has 4.2 million video cameras installed - which is about one monitor per 14 people. The ratio of cameras to people stands at only one to 472,000. The camera-to-person ratio is believed to be much higher in China´s cities, with the capital Beijing having 265,000 cameras.

No dialog on privacy rights has been addressed in China, where tight communist political command and intrusive police powers have been the norm for half a century. However, China´s plans to blend surveillance cameras with face recognition software has raised concerns about how the equipment will be used.

The Associated Press reported "Thefts, burglaries and purse snatching have all more than doubled since the 1990s amid rising wealth inequalities and abandoned social controls, with about 4.75 million cases reported in 2007, the latest year for which statistics were available. However, police say violent crime has declined in recent years with better enforcement of laws concerning weapons and explosives." The Chinese police believe that the expansion of camera security to the countryside should "put the safety of the broad masses of the people first and foremost."

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