‘Discredited Entitities’
From Global Times, the Chinese government’s English language daily, this story under the headline “China punishes 12.77 million discredited entities as of 2018”:
The big picture in the construction of China’s social credit system via a blacklist has taken initial shape, and losing credit in one place might mean an entity is restricted in other places.
Coordinated efforts among different departments have led to strengthened punishments and yielded positive results, according to an annual analysis on the blacklist for discredited behavior, which was released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planner, on Thursday.
As of the end of 2018, there were 12.77 million entities subject to credit penalties as disclosed by courts nationwide, while China restricted persons with bad social credit scores from taking more than 17.46 million flight trips and some 5.47 million high-speed train trips, the NDRC report showed.
Last year, more than 2 million entities exited the blacklist, including 1,417 taxpayers, after paying duties and fines, said the report.
Here’s how Global Times touted the story on Twitter:
China restricted 2.56 million discredited entities from purchasing plane tickets, and 90,000 entities from buying high-speed rail tickets in July: NDRC #socialcredit pic.twitter.com/4zAwJ7hrBn
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 16, 2019
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“Discredited entities” is the chilling Beijing euphemism for people who have low social credit scores. You can become a discredited entity for doing things like not paying fines. According to Wired magazine, the intrusiveness of the social credit system has been exaggerated in the West.
That may be. But watch what Beijing is doing to the Uighurs. This is not only about restricting lawbreakers. It’s about preventing people from dissenting from the government line, including doing things like going to church. As Joe Carter pointed out, in the 2014 document announcing the beginning of the system’s development, the Communist government said that when it is complete, it will “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.”
There’s a practical reason for this. Communism — especially the Cultural Revolution — destroyed civil society. Chinese people need to know who among them is trustworthy. Still, the problems here are obvious. Here’s a link to an episode of HBO’s VICE News explaining the system.
Here's a dystopian vision of the future: A real announcement I recorded on the Beijing-Shanghai bullet train. (I've subtitled it so you can watch in silence.) pic.twitter.com/ZoRWtdcSMy
— James O'Malley (@Psythor) October 29, 2018
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Keep in mind that the technology to implement this in the United States exists. The political will clearly does not. Let’s fight to make sure it never does. Companies already have the data to know a hell of a lot about us.
UPDATE: Here’s an article in The Nation explaining the social credit system, including why it’s popular. Excerpts:
We were near the entrance of the No. 1 People’s Hospital of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, southwest of Shanghai. An old woman who seemed to be waiting for a taxi suddenly climbed over the roadside barrier, leaned over the hood of a German car, jumped up, then sat down on the ground, arms crossed. The frantic young driver got out and went up to her. They argued for an hour in front of nurses and a passing policeman until they agreed on damages.
Chinese online video platforms show many incidents of peng ci (touching porcelain), where people fling themselves onto cars to claim damages. They can be funny; more often, they’re dramatic. These extortions—plus scams in health, food, and counterfeit goods—make people angry and help explain why they are prepared to accept any government measures that claim to end them.
The most important measure is the new “social credit” surveillance system.
More:
Since anyone caught littering risks losing three points, there are no cigarette butts or empty cans on the city streets or buses. Because of the numerous high-end cameras made by Hik Vision—a world leader in video surveillance, whose major shareholder is the Chinese government—the police do not have to monitor in person. Crossing a road in Rongcheng city is no longer a challenge: Drivers stop for pedestrians, a rare occurrence in China. If they fail, the penalty is harsh: a 50 yuan fine ($7.35), three points off the driving license (which has an initial total of 12), and five lost social-credit points. “It happened overnight, in the spring of 2017,” said a passer-by. “The cars suddenly stopped in front of us. I didn’t know what to do.”
Sounds pretty good, right? But:
Many neighborhoods have adopted a residents’ code of good conduct. In the Qingshan district, large hoardings stress the priorities: pornographic, or “yellow,” books and films are banned, along with growing vegetables in the streets, going to non-registered churches, being rude to neighbors, and showing off in fancy cars at weddings and funerals. Breaking those rules can lead to a loss of points.
