Identity Cards

Company working for China secret police to issue passports to Americans

In an era where Americans will have commercial operations at six key ports operated by Dubai Ports World, their future passports will be issued from a contractor for the China secret police.

US courts forced the U.S. government to allow OTI in on the USA biometric `epassport' program just weeks ago.  OTI is the contractor for China secret police for the biometric ID card now coming online, (www.smartcardalliance.org./newsletter/April 2003.cfm). 

That means that the same company that works for the China secret police will have a role in providing all U.S. citizens with their future passports--by court order.

National ID smart cards, already at work in China, are used to spy on students.

According to American Banker online, "Chinese officials who administer a graduate school admissions exam are using China's national ID smart cards and contactless terminals to identify test takers. 

"Prospective students who carry the new Chinese national ID card, a contactless card that is replacing a paper ID card, must tap the card against a terminal so examiners can verify their identifies.  Those with the old ID card place it near a terminal that uses a special light to see if the photo has been tampered with.

"In January, 107,000 people sat for the exam at 72 testing sites in Beijing."

A report in the People's Daily Online says the ID cards are checked to prevent cheating by examinees hiring substitutes to take the term test for them.  The paper notes that as competition for graduate school admission increases the potential for cheating, too.

China Vision, one of 10 vendors supplying terminals for the Chinese national ID card project, tells Card Technology China that the readers can read the data on the chip in as little as eight-tenths of a second.  China Vision says the terminals range in price from $249 to $1,243, depending on their configurations.

Other parts of China's society, outside of government, are also starting to use the national ID card to identify individuals.  Banks, hotels and Internet cafes are among them.

In the Peoples Republic of China, national ID cards are big business. Chinese officials have projected issuing some 800 million of the new ID cards to every citizen 16 and older by 2008.  As of late last year, the government had issued nearly 50 million cards in 10 provinces.

Big Brother is arriving in America from the Far East.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com