Do The Chinese Support The Rise Of The Surveillance State In China?

Mr. Xu said he had wanted to make a film based on surveillance footage for some time but didn’t think it practical until 2015, when he stumbled on Chinese websites set up by security-camera makers to allow for the sharing of surveillance video. PHOTO: XU BING STUDIO

Wall Street Journal: In China, Surveillance Feeds Become Reality TV

Live surveillance feeds around the country are watched by citizens who are increasingly comfortable with big brother.

BEIJING—They may be blocked from watching YouTube, but China’s 751 million internet users can binge on real-time video streams of yoga studios, swimming lessons, alpaca ranches and thousands of other scenes captured by surveillance cameras.

Much of what’s available would be unthinkable in the West, according to legal experts, because people dining out, taking dance classes or shopping for lingerie would likely object to having their live images beamed publicly, and doing so without their permission could invite litigation.

In China, however, surveillance is both pervasive and widely accepted. And that’s the subject of a new film by one of China’s best-known contemporary artists.

In “Dragonfly Eyes,” director Xu Bing uses real surveillance footage to tell the story of an ill-fated romance between a young woman who works on a dairy farm and a technician who watches her through the farm’s surveillance system. Mr. Xu believes it’s the first full-length fiction film to be made entirely with surveillance footage.

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WNU Editor: Cultural issues are at play here. In the West the focus is more on individualism and personal choice. In China .... the focus is more on community and group choice. The rise of the surveillance state is being viewed as a given by many in China .... at least for now.