This story about surveillance in China from the Los Angeles Times is nothing new. Sure, the Chinese government is installing 300,000 new surveillance cameras in Beijing in order to spy on foreigners. Big deal. The money quote is here:

The West might have a stronger argument in questioning China's potential for intrusive surveillance if it weren't moving rapidly in the same direction. London is believed to have the largest number of closed-circuit TV cameras of any city in the world. Many countries have seen vast troves of personal data lost or stolen. Financial records and phone calls are now routinely monitored.

Way to lead by example, West! We all thought that the Internet would make China more free and democratic. Turns out that the threat of terrorism has turned formerly democratic countries into less free and less democratic countries. It won't be long before the U.S. government is contracting with Chinese firms to think up ways in which Americans can be covertly monitored.

And what does London's surveillance get it? The cameras don't reduce crime.