Fox News host Bret Baier on Wednesday attempted to draw attention to the extensive surveillance program in China by admitting that one of his crew members received a ticket after parking illegally in Beijing. "Big Brother is watching," Baier warned, noting that there were "literally cameras everywhere" while filming a segment in Beijing, where President Donald Trump began his three-day trip to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The segment began with Baier exiting a Beijing subway station as he commented on the numerous cameras around him, part of a reported 600 million cameras across the country. These cameras now incorporate AI recognition tools. Baier noted that 1,500 cameras have been installed in Beijing so far this year, claiming that the surveillance has deterred jaywalking due to fear of being ticketed. He then turned to a crew member who was caught by the system. "In fact, our driver parked illegally for two minutes and he got a message on his phone that he got a ticket for about 40 bucks U.S. because they saw it, on the camera," Baier said, raising "real questions" about the Chinese Communist Party's intentions with its surveillance practices.
A 2025 report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute highlighted a Shanghai district document detailing how cameras could "automatically discover and intelligently enforce the law" regarding illegal parking. However, several critics on social media, including progressive commentator Hasan Piker, noted that mass surveillance systems are also in place in the United States, a point Baier did not mention. In recent months, Americans have raised privacy concerns over Flock Safety cameras, a U.S.-based producer of automatic license plate readers with contracts across thousands of law enforcement agencies. These cameras have drawn renewed attention due to Trump's immigration crackdown, leading some communities to end their contracts with Flock. Additionally, President Trump is reportedly working with software company Palantir to compile a mass database of Americans' information.
While Flock insists that ICE does not have "direct access" to its platform, NPR reported in February that researchers and journalists have found local police departments using Flock data for "side door" searches on behalf of Department of Homeland Security agencies. Critics on X pointed out the hypocrisy, with Glenn Greenwald tweeting, "Fox News has long been cheering the US Surveillance State... But they go to China and suddenly pretend to care about privacy." Others noted the contrast between US surveillance infrastructure and lack of high-speed rail, with one user saying, "Americans are supposed to be horrified by this like they aren't tracked all over town by flock cameras."
