US Tech Aids China's Hunt for Whistleblowers, AP Reports
Retired Chinese official Li Chuanliang's harrowing tale of Chinese surveillance using U.S.-sourced tech to track him in America is presented as an alarming exposé by the Associated Press. What's conveniently muted in this narrative is the glaring hypocrisy: the U.S. government has historically leveraged Silicon Valley's innovations for its own expansive surveillance programs and 'rendition'
operations, chasing its own perceived threats across borders. Remember the revelations about the NSA's PRISM program, or the CIA's extensive use of technology to track individuals globally? It seems 'surveillance technology' is only concerning when Beijing is the one buying it, not when it's built and deployed by allies, or even domestically. So, while the AP raises alarm bells about authoritarian
overreach, one might ponder how many American tech giants have eagerly sold similar capabilities to US agencies, or simply turned a blind eye when their products are repurposed for 'national security' imperatives. It appears the concern isn't about the existence of the tools, but who's holding the hammer, and whether that hammer is currently aimed at our geopolitical rival. Consistency, it seems,
is less profitable than outrage.