A network of cameras installed across a country. Officials touting a dramatic drop in crime. An administration that expanded state control, and repressed media and civil society.
No — we’re not talking about China. This is Ecuador.
A countrywide security system was purchased lock, stock and barrel from China. In fact, China’s authoritarian mass surveillance technology is starting to show up all around the globe — conveniently helped along by attractive Chinese financing to purchase these systems many developing countries would otherwise not be able to afford.
Officials sell these systems to local populations as a safety measure. And in places in the developing world with serious crime issues — society is very welcoming of it. In Ecuador, many citizens were willing to trade privacy for the notion of safety.
But what happens when a system designed for authoritarianism ends up in a democratic country?
Unbeknownst to the public, a Times investigation found the system was being used by more than just public safety officials. The system had a secondary feed going to the country’s intelligence agency, giving them a way to track anyone across the entire country.
When countries import Chinese surveillance technology, they are importing more than cameras — they are importing values. And the more countries that install China’s centralized surveillance technology, the more that China’s own very autocratic use of it may be normalized.
This video proves that China, using its financial levers, is spreading autocracy across the globe.
This story was years in the making. Before it was conceived, the correspondents all lived in China within its surveillance state for many years. Their time in China gave them a unique perspective of the cost of mass surveillance.
As the China surveillance story began getting traction worldwide over the past 12 months because of the country’s use of this technology of repression on Uighur and Central Asia minorities in Xinjiang, we looked beyond China’s borders. Our reporting team scoured the world for other countries who had imported the technology and we contacted many, asking for a tour.
One said yes. And a window opened up to help the world better understand that this is not just a China issue. This is a global issue.
A mix of visual techniques was deployed to tell this story. From motion graphics, expert witness testimony, aerial videography and on-the-ground footage from two continents, this video acts as a red flag, warning citizens everywhere.
A large revelation in reporting occurs towards the end of the video when the reporters land a rare interview with Ecuador’s intelligence agency. And through persistence and dedication to visual storytelling, the story changed. This type of revelation only happens with on-the-ground reporting and seeing a story through wherever it may lead you.
Within days of publishing our video, Ecuador’s current president Rafael Correa, responded to the video, calling the system’s use “perverse,” and vowed for the system to not be used for intelligence gathering any longer. His comments were covered widely across the Ecuadorean media.
Month’s later, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo received a letter from Senator Edward Markey. The letter reads: “The New York Times highlighted Ecuador to illustrate how other governments are now applying and abusing ‘technology built for China’s political system’.”
“The spread of sophisticated and authoritarian mass surveillance within China in itself is problematic, but its export to other governments poses a worldwide threat of repression … It is clear that China is enabling authoritarianism even where foreign leaders are uninspired by the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Our journalism has reverberated to the highest levels of government. We are proud of our reporting, holding power to account and shedding light on a reality some government officials would prefer not be public.
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