New research examines how a Chinese company struggled to develop its predictive surveillance technology while U.S. restrictions were in place.

Li Ying, known as Teacher Li to his 2.2 million followers on X, doesn’t live in China but still faces smear campaigns and death threats. He is not letting that stop him.

The country has spent decades perfecting a surveillance state at home. Now it’s promoting its ideology of state control, and the technology to enforce it, abroad.

When a remote Pacific village asked for help with rowdy youth, the Chinese police arrived with a surveillance system. Then came the backlash.

Different strokes for different folks.

The men were arrested in 2024, accused of surveilling dissidents from Hong Kong in Britain. The case sent a chill through pro-democracy protesters who have fled the territory.

The court’s decision could have broader implications for lawsuits seeking to hold companies liable for international human rights abuses.