![]() ![]() ![]() During a three-hour conversation, he comes off as thoughtful, sincere and disturbed by the deterioration of social trust in China. Qi, 54, is a big guy, well over 6 feet tall, with a lazy eye. He says some officials spy on their colleagues to get a piece of the action.Īsia Part 1: In China, Beware: A Camera May Be Watching You Qi says Chinese officials spy on one another because there is so little trust and so much to be gained politically and financially. Last year, The New York Times reported that one reason former Politburo member Bo Xilai was taken into custody was because he wiretapped Hu Jintao, chairman of the Communist Party. Local officials aren't the only ones targeted for monitoring. Lu has since been suspended from his job. No problem," Lu says on the videotape, which was shot from the ceiling. Hidden camera video surfaced on China's Internet showing Lu taking a gift card - a common form for bribes in China - from a visitor in his office. Lu Su, an official in Qi's home province of Shandong, may have felt the same way this month. "They were extremely scared, frightened, sweating all over with panicky looks on their faces." "People had heart attacks," Qi recalls over cups of tea in the back of an empty restaurant. Qi says when officials realized they were under surveillance, they panicked, fearing colleagues had captured images of them taking payoffs. Qi Hong, a former journalist, says he has helped more than a hundred friends find more than 300 surveillance devices, including audio bugs and hidden cameras. In other cases, though, he says government officials spied on each other. Qi says many people were bugged by suspicious wives or jealous mistresses. Over the next year, he says, he helped more than a hundred friends find more than 300 surveillance devices. More and more Chinese people appear to be spying on each other as well.Īfter helping the official, Qi bought some bug-detecting equipment himself. Officials use them to solve crimes, but also to monitor democracy advocates and critics of the regime in regions like Tibet. In recent years, the government has installed more than 20 million surveillance cameras around the country. Qi and the local official were shocked: "It dawned on us: This sort of thing was happening a lot in China."Ĭhina is becoming a surveillance state. "In his office, he discovered a tiny hidden camera on the bookshelf." "This friend discovered a listening device under the official's car seat," Qi recalls. So Qi asked a buddy who owned bug-detecting equipment to help. Qi Hong, on the deep distrust that prompts officials to hug each other Travel Motto: Curiosity is an amazing compass.Īisle, Window, or Middle Seat: Aisle all the way.The reality is they use this legitimate hugging and intimacy to pat down each other to check if the other person is carrying a listening device. Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Seeing the Aurora Borealis from the comfort of somewhere warm, like a glass igloo or hot spring. It's easy to pack and comfortable, and makes it so I can actually sleep on flights. The Handy Item I Always Pack: The Trtl Pillow. She is currently working on a travel memoir. Her work has been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, and Here & Now. Her advice has been featured in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. Her stories have also appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter Sarkis is an SATW-award-winning journalist and executive editor at SmarterTravel. There's a 95 percent chance Senior Editor Christine Sarkis is thinking about travel right now. ![]()
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