Above China's villages, 'Sharp Eyes' are watching
BEIJING - When a resident of Anxi village in the Sichuan province of China set a match to a small pile of garbage in the gutter two years ago, a loudspeaker blared out his name and address and ordered him to extinguish the blaze immediately. He jumped with fright, quickly put out the flames and scurried away.
He had been caught on a surveillance camera, monitored around the clock on one of 16 screens in the village security control room.
"Everyone knew who the culprit was, so he would never dare to do that again," explained the local Communist Party secretary, Yin Xiuqin, 55, wearing a satisfied smile.
The surveillance video in Anxi is also broadcast to cellphones and some televisions - placing neighborhood snitches and busybodies on the front line of local security.
People know they are always being watched. Fear of public
