Back in 2019 riots erupted all over Hong Kong, with residents protesting Chinese control over their laws. Now, the spotlight is on the special administrative region once again, as thousands of surveillance cameras are set to be installed. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:00Back in 2019, riots erupted all over Hong Kong, with residents protesting Chinese control over
00:06their laws. Now the spotlight is on the Special Administrative Region once again,
00:10as thousands of new surveillance cameras are set to be installed. Police say this is all part of
00:16reducing crime in the Asian financial hub. However, Hong Kong is already extremely safe.
00:21For some perspective, the US had an average crime rate of around 398 incidents per 100,000 people
00:27in 2020. Hong Kong had just 0.29, which is why many are crying foul, saying that Hong Kong is
00:34becoming more like China and their surveillance state. Right now, Hong Kong police say they are
00:38set to install some 2,000 surveillance cameras this year alone. However, they plan to add more
00:43every year, with experts saying they will likely introduce facial recognition with AI as well.
00:48Hong Kong authorities say they are simply following what other jurisdictions have done
00:52around the world, pointing to the UK, which has 7 million cameras and whose police force
00:57has begun using facial recognition with them. However, critics say that Hong Kong's suppression
01:02of political dissidents who are critical of China makes these new cameras all the more worrying.