Gao: China's people surveillance for 'safer' society

Victor Gao, the vice-president of the Centre for China and Globalisation says people in China are monitored but the overall priority is "to make society safer and more stable".

There are more than 200 million surveillance cameras in China - more than four times the number in the United States.

Mr Gao, a former an interpreter for Deng Xiao Ping, said surveillance could sometimes be intrusive and impact on people's privacy but he hoped in future this could be done with more sophistication allowing people to have "a freer atmosphere to operate in" allowing more access to website from overseas.

You can see the Hardtalk interview in full on BBCiPlayer (UK only).