Chairman Mao talked of ‘three magic weapons’ for seizing power: the united front, the armed struggle and construction of the Communist Party itself. Now the priority is remaining in power and to ensure that, the party is developing a fourth ‘magic weapon’.
By combining big data, artificial intelligence, recognition technology and other police techniques, it intends to create a comprehensive method of political and social control. This threatens not only to change Chinese society radically, but also to affect the wider world.
