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Techno-Authoritarianism: Platform for Repression in China and Abroad

2021-11-17T10:30:00
106 Dirksen

Techno-authoritarianism poses a serious threat to traditional notions of privacy, democratic governance models globally, and the future of an open and free internet. The Chinese government’s embrace of mass biometric collection technologies underpins the most pervasive surveillance state the world has ever seen. The Chinese model of extensive censorship and surveillance continues to spread to governments with poor human rights records that repress and control populations through technology made in China.

This hearing will look at the human rights and strategic impact of the technology of mass surveillance and censorship as employed and exported by the People’s Republic of China, including its use in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and efforts to influence and shape digital and telecommunications rulemaking and standard setting in international bodies.

The archived hearing can be viewed on the CECC’s YouTube Channel.

Hearing Transcript (PDF)

Opening Statements

Senator Jeff Merkley (Chair)

[opening statement]

Representative James McGovern, Cochair

[opening statement]

Witnesses

Geoffrey Cain, author of The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey into China's Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future

[Testimony]

Samantha Hoffman, Senior Analyst, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

[Testimony]

Yaqiu Wang, Senior Researcher on China, Human Rights Watch

[Testimony]

Jonathan Hillman, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic & International Studies

[Testimony]