CHINA INSTALLS NEARLY THREE MILLION SECURITY CAMERAS

       Chinese police say they have installed 2.75 million surveillance cameras since 2003 and are expanding the system into the largely neglected countryside.
       The cameras are the m ost visible components of police surveillance and notification systems installed around the country, mainly in urbarn areas, according to a news release posted on teh Public Security Ministry's website yesterday.
       Such systems have proved controversial in other countries, especially in Britain, which reportedly has 4.2 million surveillance cameras installed, or about one per 14 people. British police say the system has in fact done little to bring down crime.
       No debate over privacy rights has taken place in China, where the ratio of cameras to people stands at only one to 472,000, and where tight communist political control and broad and insrusive police pwers have long been the norm. The camera-to-person ratio is believed to be much higher in China's cities, with the capital Beijing having 265,000 cameras, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
       But China's moves to combine surveillance cameras with face recognition software has raised concerns about how the equipment will be used. It is not clear how many surveillance cameras in China use such software.
       The police news release said widespread camera installation began in 2003, but did not say whether that had made a dent in the crime rate or helped police crack more cases. However, police say violent crime had declined with better enforcement of rules governing weapons and explosives.
       The police news release said the Public Security Ministery had recently decided to expand the use of security cameras in the countryside, which is home to about 800 million of the country's 1.3 billion people. Such efforts should "put the safety of the broad masses of the people first and foremost", the release said.