China worried Pokemon GO could expose military bases
There are concerns that the game Pokemon Go, developed by the Japanese and the US, could raise security issues for China by highlighting the locations of Chinese military bases. Although it has not yet been released in China, the belief is that such areas could be identified by assessing where users can and cannot go in search of Pokemon, similar to how Google Maps outed Taiwan’s military bases. It is unclear whether these concerns are shared by the Chinese government.

Pokemon GO is taking the world by storm and leading people to explore various parts of their cities and countries. It even inspired one man to quit his job and travel his country trying to catch every Pokemon there is out there. However over in China, despite the game having yet to be released, there are some who fear that Pokemon GO could be a security issue

According to those who are worried about the game, they fear that it is a tool developed by the Japanese and the US to help weed out China’s military bases by seeing where users aren’t allowed to go and capture Pokemon. In the past we’ve seen issues with Google and Google Maps accidentally revealing Taiwan’s classified military bases, so we guess there is a basis for concern, even if it was an accidental discovery.

The speculation is that by placing rare Pokemon in places that are less travelled, and by observing the fact that no one attempts to go and capture said Pokemon, it could be deduced that the location has restricted access and could potentially be a military base. A message circulating Weibo reads, “Then, when war breaks out, Japan and the U.S. can easily target their guided missiles, and China will have been destroyed by the invasion of a Japanese-American game.”

That being said, it is unclear if this concern is just limited to a few individuals or if this is something the government truly believes themselves, but in the meantime gamers in China have expressed their excitement and anticipation of the game.

Filed in . Read more about Apps, China and Pokémon GO.