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China Readies Super ID Card, a Worry to Some
By DAVID W. CHEN
EIJING, Aug. 18 — For almost two decades, Chinese citizens have been defined, judged and,
in some cases, constrained by their all-purpose national identification card, a laminated
document the size of a driver's license.
But starting next year, they will face something new and breathtaking in scale: an electronic
card that will store that vital information for all 960 million eligible citizens on chips that the
authorities anywhere can access.
Officials hope that the technologically advanced cards will help stamp out fraud and
counterfeiting involving the current cards, protecting millions of people from those problems and
saving billions of dollars. Providing the cards to everyone is expected to take five or six years.
But the vagueness and vastness of the undertaking has prompted some criticism that the data
collection could be used to quash dissent and to infringe on privacy.
The project comes at a time when China is doggedly remaking itself into a leaner economic
machine in line with the standards of the World Trade Organization. But China is also struggling
to track a restless and poor rural population that continues to gravitate toward the cities. So
officials are no doubt gambling that the cards can help them juggle two important if conflicting
interests: promoting economic liberalization, while monitoring citizens in an increasingly fluid
society.
There has been little public discussion or news about the new cards. Brief but rapturous
accounts in the official press say the cards will "protect citizens."
Yet many of China's toughest critics, at home and abroad, are skeptical, objecting to the
concentration of so much information at the government's fingertips.
"Given the record of the Chinese government on protecting the privacy of its citizens and given
the prevalence of corruption, how can we ensure that this information will be managed
properly?" asked Nicolas Becquelin, research director at the Hong Kong office of Human Rights
in China. "It's scary what the Chinese government is doing, because there is no counterweight."
The original identification card, introduced in 1985, contains such personal data as one's
nationality and birth date and an 18-digit identification number. It also indicates a person's
household registration, which has traditionally tied a person to his or her province of birth.
In June, China's top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress, passed the National Citizen ID Law, approving the cards. They are to have a
microchip storing personal data, but the face of the card is not to contain details any more
personal than what is on the current cards. The cards are to be tested early next year, first in
Shanghai, Shenzhen and Huzhou, a city in Zhejiang Province.
The agency in charge of the program, the Ministry of Public Security, declined to answer written
questions seeking details. But in an interview published in July with Cards Tech and Security, a
magazine of the Smart Card Forum of China, a trade group, two Public Security officials, Guo
Xing and Liu Zhikui, said the current cards were too easy to forge and did not take advantage
of technological advances.
They also said the new cards, which will feature a rendering of the Great Wall, would not look
much different from the old ones.
"The ID card and the ID number are mainly going to be used to verify a resident's identity,
safeguard people's rights, make it easier for people to organize activities and maintain law and
order," Mr. Guo said.
The use of electronic cards is not particularly new. Other governments and companies issue
them. Hong Kong began issuing its own electronic ID cards in June.
With the Olympic Games approaching in 2008, China expects a growing demand for various
cards, including transit cards, bank cards and social security cards, said Jafizwaty Haji Ishahak,
an analyst in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with Frost & Sullivan, a consulting company. The social
services cards that are to be phased in should be able to track all the government services an
individual receives, from health care to welfare.
"If you want to live in the fast lane, you have to deal with technology, but you cannot have total
freedom," said Frank Xu, executive director of Smart Card Forum of China, who is from
Huzhou, one of the test cities. "There have to be conditions."
But detractors say freedom has a far different meaning in China, a place where security
officials have never been shy about following or using listening devices on dissidents, journalists
or students.
While it may make sense to track would-be terrorists, the cards would also make it much
easier for the government to monitor political or religious dissidents. After China's 1989
crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, the government televised photographs and
identification card numbers of student leaders being sought. Under the new system, tracking
dissidents would be much easier, said Mr. Becquelin of the rights group in Hong Kong.
There are concerns that the technology could be prone to abuse, corruption or the whim of the
local authorities who routinely thumb their noses at Beijing. This may be particularly true with
China's surging population of rural migrants, now estimated at more than 120 million and
growing by 13 million a year.
"This new card will make it possible to locate people who haven't registered, so I think the
migrants will be more subject to abuse," said Dorothy J. Solinger, a professor of political
science at the University of California at Irvine.
So far, anyway, most Chinese who have heard about the new cards do not seem to mind;
indeed, many are enthusiastic. Yes, they say, there is always the possibility of corruption. Yes,
one's privacy may be invaded from time to time.
But many Chinese said they liked the idea of guarding against identity theft and ensuring that
someone who claims to be, say, a nanny, is telling the truth. Besides, there is also a sense of
resignation.
"Our security officials already have all the information about us, anyway, so this is not a big
change," said one man, surnamed Sun, who is a science professor in Beijing.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company /
