A popular Chinese restaurant chain in Taiwan has denied sending customer surveillance footage to China after admitting that the Vancouver branch has sent customer surveillance footage to China.
Taiwan’s HaiDiLao Hotpot admitted in a statement on Facebook on April 22 that it recorded customer footage, but “mainly better protects consumers’ food rights and safety and reduces service. It was done to avoid and improve the quality of service. ” “
The branch also denied using video to perform facial recognition and analysis, adding that the records were made in accordance with Taiwanese laws and regulations.
The recorded video is only temporarily stored at the branch, never stored, he added, “no backups outside Taiwan have been and will never be done.”
The statement of the restaurant branch is Sunday Guardian Live On April 17, the manager of HaidiLao’s branch office in Vancouver, Canada, said, “As part of China’s Social Credit system, we confirmed that at the request of HaidiLao, more than 60 surveillance cameras were installed in the restaurant. I did. “
Manager Ryan Pan told research journalist Ina Mitchell and intelligence expert Scott McGregor to monitor and “punish” staff at a total of 30 tables in Vancouver if they don’t follow. He said he was assigned two cameras. Comply with Haidilao’s corporate standards and “track” customers. Mr Pan added that the footage shot by these cameras was sent to China, but refused to elaborate further, saying it was a “secret”.
The article prompted a backlash and a statement from a location in Taiwan.
Some say that cameras are beneficial for safety reasons, and it’s up to you to eat.
Others questioned whether Taiwanese management could refuse to send surveillance footage if China headquarters requested viewing of the surveillance footage. Others questioned that the footage wasn’t just temporarily stored in the branch office, saying the restaurant’s cameras were manufactured by a Chinese surveillance company controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Established in 1994 in Sichuan, China. Heidi Lao Is one of the largest restaurant chains in China, with over 900 offices worldwide, including the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Taiwan.
Vancouver operates in two locations, the Richmond and Kitsilano districts. The Kitsilano district is within walking distance of the home that Huawei’s temporary relocation staff provides to assist Meng Wanzhou’s Chief Financial Officer. Telecommunications giant. It also took less than 10 minutes to reach Meng’s mansion and the visa office of the Chinese Consulate, Sundae Guardian Live reported.
Mitchell She said she believed Beijing chose a bread restaurant in Vancouver for “intensive information gathering.”
“Vancouver is the gateway for the Chinese Communist Party to expand into North America, using financial incentives and other incentives to mobilize overseas United front units to promote the party’s agenda, politically. And strategically seduce business leaders, “she told the United States. Think Tank Gatestone Institute.
Charles Burton, a senior researcher at the McDonald’s Laurier Institute, which specializes in Chinese affairs, also plans to use restaurants such as HaidiLao Hotpot to eavesdrop on important conversations that drive its profits. I believe there is.
“I don’t pay much attention to table manners, but I need to be more careful about who is saying what to whom at the restaurant and who is taken to the restaurant with two cameras per table. “That’s Burton.” Said At the John Batchelor show on April 21st.
Gordon Chang, a prominent Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, explained how China’s Social Credit system works.
“China gets all the information it gets (surveillance cameras, everything else), and they supply them to this Social Credit system, which is supposed to be done nationwide,” said Chan Burton. Said at the John Batchelor Show with.
“But what happens is that every Chinese citizen is given a score, and that score is constantly updated up and down depending on the behavior observed. Therefore, if you look at J-Walking, score will drop. for example, to tell you the good thing about Xi Jinping, will raise the score, “he added.
In 2014, the State Council of China officially Social credit system Nationwide with the aim of “making it difficult for trusted people to roam all over heaven and for those who have lost credibility to take a step forward.” report Foreign policy.
Mr Chan said low-scoring individuals in China are facing negative consequences.
“People with low scores have been denied social welfare, mortgages, and even the right to board trains and planes,” he said. “China is extending totalitarian dominance to other parts of the world.” I wrote in an article entitled.
Mitchell also told Chan that “it interacts with family, friends, peers and businesses in China and abroad.”
Mitchell and McGregor said that the amount of “over-the-top” surveillance cameras in HaidiLao Hotpot was actually set by Chinese authorities to measure “vulnerabilities, and indications of Canadian law enforcement and civilians.” It is written that it may be a penetration test.
“The passive response of selected Canadian officials, law enforcement agencies, and security intelligence agencies has helped Chinese people boldly influence operations, which have historically been the basis of their tactics. It only helps. The potential for further technology-based exploitation within Canada will most certainly increase, “they write.
February 9, David Vigneault, Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service caveat About the threat CCP poses to Canada’s national security.
“For clarity, the threat is not from the Chinese people, but in pursuit of strategies for geopolitical superiority in all aspects of economics, technology, politics and military, using all elements of state power. We carry out activities that directly threaten our national security and sovereignty. We must all strengthen our defenses, “he said.