The Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance on the people continues to escalate, from the “Skynet Project” initiated in 2004 – a network of urban monitoring cameras, to the nationwide expansion in 2015 known as the “Sharp Eyes Project” – bringing surveillance even to rural areas and communities, greatly provoking public discontent.
Recently, a netizen posted that at the intersection of Helongjiang Middle Road and Shanhe Road in Chengyang District, Qingdao, two monitoring poles were densely packed with cameras, leading people to mockingly comment, “Their hearts can’t function without these surveillance cameras.”
The shared images show that at least ten surveillance cameras have been installed on each of the two poles at the intersection. The netizen further mentioned that while there were already some cameras at this intersection before, there are now significantly more than before.
The images indicate that there are over 20 cameras.
According to a report by the “Straits Metropolis Daily,” on April 23rd, a journalist called the Traffic Police Brigade of Chengyang Sub-Bureau of Qingdao Public Security Bureau regarding this matter. The staff mentioned the need for further contact with the sub-bureau for interviews. After recording the details, the staff stated that they would look into the feedback provided. On the 24th, when the journalist called again, no one answered the phone at the sub-bureau. As of the time of publication, no relevant response has been received.
In response to this, netizens sarcastically remarked, “Not just tens, but dozens.” “From afar, it looks like a row of owls, up close it’s a row of cameras! So densely packed!” “The poles must be exhausted. This must be the work of the snake from the game ‘Snake’.” “Seeing this kind of situation, it’s really hard for ordinary people to react.” “Don’t be surprised, this is a surveillance meeting.” “No matter how many cameras there are, what needs to be found won’t be found, and what suddenly breaks will still break.” “Their hearts can’t function without these surveillance cameras.”
“In the spring of Bing Wu, at the intersection of Chengyang Road in Qingdao, more than ten cameras are densely dispersed, with the police claiming they have recorded and will provide feedback. The Cyber Historian says: with dense surveillance, people have doubts, awaiting clarification.” “These cameras are denser than my hair. It’s making me develop a fear of density.” “For those with fear of density, seeing this will make them faint instantly!”
Some netizens also noted, “It’s not just Qingdao, many road intersections in various places are filled with numerous cameras. From a distance, it looks like a row of birds perched on the poles.” “Every intersection in Linyi is like this.” “There are still many instances like this in Chongqing.” “You can go to the main roads in Hangzhou to see for yourself. The poles are filled with cameras, with multiple ones on the vertical poles too, it’s quite impressive. I wonder what all these departments are monitoring.”
“It’s similar to Jiangmen, Guangdong, focusing on generating revenue.” “They won’t miss any opportunity for fines, issues like theft are not within the scope of these surveillance cameras.” “Money is hard to come by now, traps are set everywhere, like these cameras, bringing in millions of revenue each year, so car owners need to be cautious. We also have many intersections and roads here with new installations and mobile testing, making it hard to guard against.”