{"id":50088,"date":"2019-08-26T07:34:14","date_gmt":"2019-08-25T21:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=50088"},"modified":"2019-08-26T09:03:48","modified_gmt":"2019-08-25T23:03:48","slug":"the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/","title":{"rendered":"The company with Aussie roots that\u2019s helping build China\u2019s surveillance state"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The Chinese government\u2019s surveillance state in Xinjiang<\/a>, where an estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs are being detained in \u2018re-education camps\u2019, has created a booming business for high-tech surveillance companies. Koala AI Technology<\/a> is one of the many Chinese artificial intelligence start-ups riding a wave of Chinese government demand for surveillance technology. But unlike its competitors, Koala AI may have benefited from connections with Australian universities and Australian government funding. The company is led by scientists who worked and studied in Australia before relocating to China through Chinese government talent-recruitment schemes.<\/p>\n

In 2011, Heng Tao Shen<\/a> became one of the University of Queensland\u2019s youngest-ever professors at age 34. Three years later he was recruited through the Chinese government\u2019s Thousand Talents Plan<\/a> to work at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), where he became head of its School of Computer Science and Engineering and was given a laboratory and research team<\/a> to lead. He founded Koala AI<\/a> a year later, in 2015. His LinkedIn page<\/a> and personal page<\/a> on the UQ website say that he only left for UESTC in 2017, but Koala AI\u2019s own reporting<\/a> indicates that he was already working there in 2014.<\/p>\n

According to Shen<\/a>, \u2018a shortage of leading talents in China\u2019s artificial intelligence industry is becoming a stifling force on development\u2019. In 2016, a senior Chinese government official estimated<\/a> that the country had an AI talent shortage of over 5 million people.<\/p>\n

Shen turned back to Australia to address this need, hiring colleagues and students from Australia while juggling his professorships<\/a> at UESTC and UQ, where he still holds an honorary professorship<\/a>. Most of Koala AI\u2019s executives<\/a> also worked<\/a> or studied at Australian universities, sometimes under Shen or his colleagues, before joining the company with financial support<\/a> from Chinese government talent-recruitment schemes. Shen continues to collaborate<\/a> extensively with Australian scientists on technologies directly related to the AI security systems offered by his company.<\/p>\n

Members of Koala AI\u2019s research team<\/a> reportedly include Thousand Talents Plan scholars currently working at the University of New South Wales and UQ, as well as a leading scientists from the University of Melbourne and the National University of Singapore. The Thousand Talents Plan sometimes allows participants to spend most of their time at their overseas \u2018base\u2019, provided they also work in China for a few months each year.<\/p>\n

Koala AI also draws on research from the Center for Future Media<\/a> at UESTC, which functions as the company\u2019s R&D wing. Both run by Shen, they work \u2018hand in hand\u2019 on AI research, and Chinese media has reported<\/a> that \u2018all effective research outputs from the Center for Future Media are plugged into the R&D of Koala AI products, assisting the development of the AI industry\u2019. The centre has hosted visiting professors<\/a> from the University of Adelaide and the University of Queensland.<\/p>\n

Koala AI claims to be worth<\/a> \u00a51 billion (A$200 million) and aims to become western China\u2019s first AI unicorn\u2014a company worth over US$1 billion\u2014by 2020.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party has greatly expanded its oppression of religious and ethnic minorities across the country and in Xinjiang in particular. According to one of the leading experts on Xinjiang, Adrian Zenz, spending<\/a> on security-related construction there tripled in 2017. ASPI\u2019s International Cyber Policy Centre found<\/a> that the size of concentration camps in Xinjiang has grown by more than 400% since 2016. High-tech surveillance systems enable repression and control of China\u2019s population by the government\u2019s powerful internal security and public security ministries and agencies.<\/p>\n

As AI becomes increasingly sophisticated, oppression in Xinjiang now relies on algorithms and apps as much as it does on batons and boots. Leading companies<\/a> such as Huawei, Hikvision and iFlytek all supply surveillance and public security technology to the region, where their products are likely facilitating human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

Koala AI\u2019s co-founder, Adelaide University graduate Shen Fumin, believes the future of security lies in AI. \u2018Using AI to define \u201cnew security\u201d is the future we foresee, and it\u2019s also our mission\u2019, he told a Chinese media<\/a> outlet. At a conference in Xinjiang, CEO Heng Tao Shen demonstrated a surveillance system that the company supplies to the Altay region at Xinjiang\u2019s northwestern edge. The system helps the Chinese government manage its border with Kazakhstan, through which many Uyghurs and Kazakhs seek to flee<\/a> the region<\/a>. It can uncover, categorise and recognise targets, alerting police to \u2018suspicious individuals and cars<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Products like these are driving the rapid expansion of Koala AI, which also runs a joint laboratory<\/a> with China\u2019s Ministry of Public Security. Co-founder Shen Fumin said<\/a> in 2019: \u2018The company is developing so quickly. The government\u2019s assistance and the billion-dollar market for intelligent security means that we can\u2019t rest for even a moment.\u2019<\/p>\n

Koala AI describes its surveillance system as an example of \u2018self-dependent development\u2019\u2014a priority for China as it tries to end its reliance on technology from abroad\u2014but Shen Heng Tao\u2019s past research was supported by as much as $2.6 million in funding<\/a> from the Australian Research Council. Up to $1.6 million of that funding covered projects Shen worked on after he established Koala AI and set up a laboratory at a Chinese university. Research he carried out with ARC funding focused on surveillance-related topics such as event recognition<\/a> in videos. The funding agreement<\/a> for one of the ARC schemes, a Future Fellowship, prohibits recipients from holding other fellowships that are remunerated or might impair their duties to the ARC. Recipients of ARC funding are also required to avoid and report any conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Visuals from a demonstration<\/a> of Koala AI\u2019s surveillance system, showing part of China\u2019s border with Kazakhstan.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the United States, the Thousand Talents Plan has attracted scrutiny for its links to economic espionage, but not yet for its human rights implications. The scheme is a flagship of the Chinese government\u2019s technology-transfer efforts, which rely heavily on reversing China\u2019s brain drain by encouraging overseas scientists to bring their expertise to China. Since its establishment in 2008, it has recruited<\/a> over 7,000 leading scientists and entrepreneurs from abroad.<\/p>\n

The Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s growing scrutiny of the program has sent it underground<\/a>. In September 2018, the Chinese government circulated a notice instructing official outlets to censor<\/a> references to it, and thousands of web pages have since been taken offline. Organisations recruiting scientists for the Thousand Talents Plan have been instructed<\/a> to do so covertly by inviting potential participants to China using the guise of academic conferences and by not communicating with them through email. At least five participants<\/a> in Chinese government talent-recruitment schemes have been charged with crimes including economic espionage<\/a> and fraud<\/a>. In addition, dozens of US and Australian employees of the government or universities are believed to have joined Chinese government talent-recruitment programs while failing to declare<\/a> their external employment.<\/p>\n

However, the human rights implications of these applications of AI research and technology transfer in China are just as worrying. And, as the case of Koala AI shows, Western universities and even government funding may be used to help carry out research as well as train, fund and recruit talent for AI-enabled state surveillance.<\/p>\n

The enormity of the abuses the Chinese government is committing in Xinjiang means that the Australian government, universities and scientists must do more to scrutinise end users of their research. Meeting basic ethical standards would only affect a tiny share of research collaboration<\/a> between Australia and China. But, currently, our universities do not appear to have sufficient internal mechanisms to enforce and ensure compliance with their policies on conflicts of interest and external employment, to understand who their employees are collaborating with, or to identify participants in foreign talent-recruitment programs. Without change on this front, universities could be unable to meet the guidelines on research collaboration<\/a> they are asking for from the government.<\/p>\n

Better aligning Australia\u2019s engagement with China with our interests and values will often be difficult. But there are clear red lines, and aiding technology-enhanced human rights abuses is surely one of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chinese government\u2019s surveillance state in Xinjiang, where an estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs are being detained in \u2018re-education camps\u2019, has created a booming business for high-tech surveillance companies. Koala AI Technology is one of the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":790,"featured_media":50089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1291,249,2335,2238],"class_list":["post-50088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-human-rights","tag-universities","tag-xinjiang","dinkus-strategist-special-report"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe company with Aussie roots that\u2019s helping build China\u2019s surveillance state | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The company with Aussie roots that\u2019s helping build China\u2019s surveillance state | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chinese government\u2019s surveillance state in Xinjiang, where an estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs are being detained in \u2018re-education camps\u2019, has created a booming business for high-tech surveillance companies. Koala AI Technology is one of the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-25T21:34:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-25T23:03:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1540259907945ps70rrsqoq.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alex Joske\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alex Joske\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1540259907945ps70rrsqoq.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1540259907945ps70rrsqoq.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":426},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/\",\"name\":\"The company with Aussie roots that\u2019s helping build China\u2019s surveillance state | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-25T21:34:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-25T23:03:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c1e5ef3fedc92839f8ecab8900c54d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The company with Aussie roots that\u2019s helping build China\u2019s surveillance state\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c1e5ef3fedc92839f8ecab8900c54d\",\"name\":\"Alex Joske\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e7ed06586d6e6296318acc864d4576c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e7ed06586d6e6296318acc864d4576c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alex Joske\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/alex-joske\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The company with Aussie roots that\u2019s helping build China\u2019s surveillance state | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The company with Aussie roots that\u2019s helping build China\u2019s surveillance state | The Strategist","og_description":"The Chinese government\u2019s surveillance state in Xinjiang, where an estimated 1.5 million Uyghurs are being detained in \u2018re-education camps\u2019, has created a booming business for high-tech surveillance companies. Koala AI Technology is one of the ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2019-08-25T21:34:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-25T23:03:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1540259907945ps70rrsqoq.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alex Joske","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alex Joske","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1540259907945ps70rrsqoq.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1540259907945ps70rrsqoq.jpg","width":640,"height":426},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/","name":"The company with Aussie roots that\u2019s helping build China\u2019s surveillance state | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2019-08-25T21:34:14+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-25T23:03:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c1e5ef3fedc92839f8ecab8900c54d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-company-with-aussie-roots-thats-helping-build-chinas-surveillance-state\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The company with Aussie roots that\u2019s helping build China\u2019s surveillance state"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c1e5ef3fedc92839f8ecab8900c54d","name":"Alex Joske","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e7ed06586d6e6296318acc864d4576c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e7ed06586d6e6296318acc864d4576c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alex Joske"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/alex-joske\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50088"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/790"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50088"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50103,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50088\/revisions\/50103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}