Keith Bedford for The New York Times
Cities in China are installing surveillance systems with hundreds of
thousands of cameras like these at a Beijing building site.
By ANDREW JACOBS and PENN BULLOCK
Published: March 15, 2012
Recommend
Twitter
Linkedin
comments (15)
Sign In to E-Mail
Single Page
Reprints
Share
CloseDiggRedditTumblrPermalink BEIJING — As the Chinese government
forges ahead on a multibillion-dollar effort to blanket the country
with surveillance cameras, one American company stands to profit: Bain
Capital, the private equity firm founded by Mitt Romney.
Related
Times Topics: Surveillance of Citizens by Government | Mitt Romney
Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.
Twitter List: Reporters and Editors
Enlarge This Image
Keith Bedford for The New York Times
Chinese cities are installing surveillance systems with hundreds of
thousands of cameras like these at a Beijing building site.
Readers' Comments
Share your thoughts.
Post a Comment »
Read All Comments (15) »
In December, a Bain-run fund in which a Romney family blind trust has
holdings purchased the video surveillance division of a Chinese
company that claims to be the largest supplier to the government's
Safe Cities program, a highly advanced monitoring system that allows
the authorities to watch over university campuses, hospitals, mosques
and movie theaters from centralized command posts.
The Bain-owned company, Uniview Technologies, produces what it calls
"infrared antiriot" cameras and software that enable police officials
in different jurisdictions to share images in real time through the
Internet. Previous projects have included an emergency command center
in Tibet that "provides a solid foundation for the maintenance of
social stability and the protection of people's peaceful life,"
according to Uniview's Web site.
Such surveillance systems are often used to combat crime and the
manufacturer has no control over whether they are used for other
purposes. But human rights advocates say in China they are also used
to intimidate and monitor political and religious dissidents. "There
are video cameras all over our monastery, and their only purpose is to
make us feel fear," said Loksag, a Tibetan Buddhist monk in Gansu
Province. He said the cameras helped the authorities identify and
detain nearly 200 monks who participated in a protest at his monastery
in 2008.
Mr. Romney has had no role in Bain's operations since 1999 and had no
say over the investment in China. But the fortunes of Bain and Mr.
Romney are still closely tied.
The financial disclosure forms Mr. Romney filed last August show that
a blind trust in the name of his wife, Ann Romney, held a relatively
small stake of between $100,000 and $250,000 in the Bain Capital Asia
fund that purchased Uniview.
In a statement, R. Bradford Malt, who manages the Romneys' trusts,
noted that he had put trust assets into the fund before it bought
Uniview. He said that the Romneys had no role in guiding their
investments. He also said he had no control over the Asian fund's
choice of investments.
Mr. Romney reported on his August disclosure forms that he and his
wife earned a minimum of $5.6 million from Bain assets held in their
blind trusts and retirement accounts. Bain employees and executives
are also among the largest donors to his campaign, and their
contributions accounted for 10 percent of the money received over the
past year by Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney "super PAC." Bain
employees have also made substantial contributions to Democratic
candidates, including President Obama.
Bain's decision to enter China's fast-growing surveillance industry
raises questions about the direct role that American corporations play
in outfitting authoritarian governments with technology that can be
used to repress their own citizens.
It also comes at a delicate time for Mr. Romney, who has frequently
called for a hard line against the Chinese government's suppression of
religious freedom and political dissent.
As with previous deals involving other American companies, critics
argue that Bain's acquisition of Uniview violates the spirit — if not
necessarily the letter — of American sanctions imposed on Beijing
after the deadly crackdown on protests in Tiananmen Square. Those
rules, written two decades ago, bar American corporations from
exporting to China "crime-control" products like those that process
fingerprints, make photo identification cards or use night vision
technology.
Most video surveillance equipment is not covered by the sanctions,
even though a Canadian human rights group found in 2001 that Chinese
security forces used Western-made video cameras to help identify and
apprehend Tiananmen Square protesters.
Representative Frank R. Wolf, Republican of Virginia, who frequently
assails companies that do business with Chinese security agencies,
said calls by some members of Congress to pass stricter regulations on
American businesses have gone nowhere. "These companies are busy
making a profit and don't want to face realities, but what they're
doing is wrong," said Mr. Wolf, who is co-chairman of the Tom Lantos
Human Rights Commission.
In public comments and in a statement posted on his campaign Web site,
Mr. Romney has accused the Obama administration of placing economic
concerns above human rights in managing relations with China. He has
called on the White House to offer more vigorous support of those who
criticize the Chinese Communist Party.
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment