China launched the second-generation Gaofen-2 satellite on Tuesday, 19 August 2014. (Credit: China Great Wall Industry Corporation)

China Shows Off Surveillance Prowess Of New Satellite -- SBS/L.A. Times

Chinese authorities says the country’s extensive terrestrial surveillance network helps to deter crime and maintain “social stability,” though critics say it constitutes an invasion of privacy and is often deployed to monitor dissidents.

China has spent billions of dollars to build a nationwide surveillance network - by one 2013 estimate, the country had 30 million surveillance cameras in parks, on highways and even in taxis.

Now, there’s a very powerful eye in the sky that allows authorities to keep tabs on things: the Gaofen-1 satellite, which is capturing high-resolution images from 300 miles above the Earth.

Analysis of images captured by Gaofen-1 have enabled Chinese police to find fields of opium poppy and marijuana in northern China and uncover dozens of routes used by smugglers at the border with North Korea and along the frontier in the restive Xinjiang region, the official New China News Agency reported Monday.

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My Comment:The Chinese went camera crazy about 5 years ago .... I guess this is just a further extension of how much of a surveillance state that the government wants.