I understand your point -- though if you read the article, the conclusion is as much about the similarities between China&#x27;s domestic surveillance policy and the new backdoor proposals of the US and UK, a point that really does not fit into the State department&#x27;s model of the world.<p>My point is that it doesn&#x27;t matter what the reasons are for censorship or surveillance, if you actually want to implement your repressive solution successfully, you will end up walking down an increasingly authoritarian path. Every country has some clear reason for introducing their own &quot;control rods&quot;, whether it&#x27;s Islamic separatists in Xinjiang or immigrants or the communist menace or economic instability. The reasons are always different, but the consequences are often the same.