'one of the year's most exciting releases' - The Herald

China is building the world's first digital totalitarian state, a system of hitherto unimaginable social and political control. Internet freedom has been eliminated and ubiquitous surveillance cameras employ the latest facial recognition technology.

Through flagrant cyber espionage, it has plundered Western technology on a massive scale, bullied Western tech companies and academics (though many have been willing accomplices) and intimidated critics worldwide. In doing so, it has become a model for aspiring dictators everywhere.

Ian Williams examines the extraordinary rise of the Chinese surveillance state, showing how it has been driven by the enigmatic Xi Jinping, now effectively president for life, and how it impacts the daily lives of Chinese citizens, particularly dissidents and those from ethnic minorities. Supporting interviews and first-hand accounts from those whose lives have been turned upside down or worse highlight the chilling and ruthless efficiency with which the government can now act.

The book also considers the wider implications for the rest of the world. How to deal with an increasingly strident, aggressive Beijing is one of the biggest challenges facing the West in what has become a technological Cold War.

About the Author

Ian Williams was foreign correspondent for Channel 4 News, based in Russia (1992-1995) and then Asia (1995-2006). He then joined NBC News as Asia Correspondent (2006-2015), when he was based in Bangkok and Beijing. As well as reporting from China over the last 25 years, he has also covered conflicts in the Balkans, the Middle East and Ukraine. He won an Emmy and BAFTA awards for his discovery and reporting on the Serb detention camps during the war in Bosnia. He is currently a doctoral student in the War Studies department at King's College, London, focusing on cyber issues.

Reviews

'Ian Williams has written a superb and deeply informed study on containing a technological totalitarian state. It is a chilling reminder to all who believe in the rule of law and an open society of China's present threats to our way of life'

-- Chris Patten (Lord Patten of Barnes), last governor of Hong Kong and current Chancellor of Oxford University

'Forget Soviet Russia, Xi's China now echoes 1930s Germany'

* Sunday Times *

'Fascinating... a really interesting book. China has no private companies... you are always dealing with the Chinese Communist State whenever you deal with them. An unarguable fact'

-- Stig Abell * Times Radio *

'Williams knows his stuff, as an award-winning foreign correspondent reporting for a quarter of a century from Asia with a special interest in China. This is an accessible, valuable, troubling, timely book'

-- Ian Martin * Reaction Life *

'one of the year's most exciting releases'

* The Herald *

'I have been reading a superb new book by the journalist Ian Williams called Every Breath You Take: China's New Tyranny. The title comes from the 1982 hit song by the band known as The Police, written by its frontman Sting, who later described it as "a nasty little song. Rather evil. It's about jealousy and surveillance and ownership." It refers to "every move you make ... I'll be watching you." A stalker, not a lover; an oppressor, not a partner. In every sense, the CCP regime. Yet not only watching you. Now, in Hong Kong, lecturing you every day'

-- Benedict Rogers * HK Apple Daily *

'A devastating expose'

-- Dominic Sandbrook * Daily Mail *

'A persuasive, alarming wake-up call'

-- Brian Maye * Irish Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9781780277110
Author Ian Williams
Format Paperback
Page Count 376
Imprint Birlinn Ltd
Publisher Birlinn General
Weight(grams) 577g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm * 1mm