Beijing Issues Electronic Wristbands to Bus Drivers for ‘State Security’

Bus drivers in Beijing must wear wristband monitors before and during the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Illustration - Shutterstock

Beijing’s long-haul bus drivers will wear a new gadget for “emotion sensing” and monitoring of vital signs, with the purpose of facilitating security control in the city prior to the Party’s 20th National Congress.

Beijing Public Transportation Group (BPTG) issued 1,800 electronic wristbands on Sept. 21 to bus drivers who drive on freeways and who cross provincial lines.

The wristbands provide real-time monitoring of the drivers’ vital signs and stress level as indicators of the drivers’ physical and mental health, and to improve public safety, the Chinese report claimed.

It meets the regime’s command: Minimize “societal risks,” prior to and during the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party that starts on Oct. 16.

What it Does

On June 1, Beijing municipal bus drivers on some routes in Tongzhou district and the central downtown areas started wearing the monitoring bracelets.

The bracelet records body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen levels, exercise movement, blood pressure, and sleep; it also monitors emotional states such as depression and anxiety.

It is touted as “care for drivers,” and a way to “improve driving safety.”

“By using science and technology to ensure public road safety, Beijing has set a good example for the rest of China,” said a Communist propaganda commentator.

People line up for a PCR test for COVID-19 outside a private testing site in Beijing, China, on Oct. 25, 2021. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

New Type of 24-hour Surveillance

Obviously, the regime is stepping up its monitoring and controlling of the populace with these electronic wristbands.

Recently, a Beijing resident exposed on Chinese social media Weibo that local community staff demanded the blogger wear the wristband after returning from a business trip in a southern city.

The wristband was said to aid those in home isolation by providing body temperature to the authorities, but the blogger did not agree to put it on.

On July 13, the blogger wrote: The gadget is a 24-hour monitoring system that tracks those who wear it—a serious violation of privacy.

The wristband was also criticized as another pandemic-born business besides the production of vaccines and PCR tests.

Following the post, many Beijing residents echoed with examples of their own experiences, the Taiwan based CNA reported.

In Sichuan Province, local authorities also publicized the use of the latest technical apparatus.

In a March media report, the police of Chengdu City adopted the electronic wristbands and mobile GPS to monitor and control those who were under house arrest or suspects who were released on bail.

Xu Jian contributed to this report.