The Perfect Police State

An in-depth, on-the ground view of how Chinese officials have co-opted technology, infrastructure and the minds of their people to establish the definitive police state.

“"[T]he real value of Cain's book is its tying together of the different threads of reportage on 'the Situation' in Xinjiang -- as it is euphemistically called on the ground. He is especially good at explaining how this vast, sparsely populated desert region became a laboratory for China's emerging techno-authoritarianism."-- The Spectator”

"Cain complements [a personal] account with an efficient analysis of the technological advances required to create China's modern panopticon, including major developments in facial and voice recognition and an AI system able to perform 'predictive policing'... He offers a cogent portrait of the economic imperatives driving the development of these technologies, and of the general corporate reluctance to take much interest in their application."--Times Literary Supplement
"Even for those who have no intention of ever visiting China or Xinjiang, this book is recommended."--Asia Times
"Journalist Geoffrey Cain gives us a riveting account of the realities on the ground in China's huge western province, based on his own reporting and accounts from exiles, with a single story of escape at the heart of it. His prose leaps off the page, and brings to life the human cost when Big Brother is always watching."--The Wire China
"Geoffrey Cain's account of the techno-dystopia taking shape in mainland China blends historical background, business reporting, investigative journalism and political commentary... Cain also fits the story into a broader context: the collusion of capitalism and communism....Western executives doing business with China should read this book and look hard in the mirror."--Times UK
"[T]he real value of Cain's book is its tying together of the different threads of reportage on 'the Situation' in Xinjiang -- as it is euphemistically called on the ground. He is especially good at explaining how this vast, sparsely populated desert region became a laboratory for China's emerging techno-authoritarianism."--The Spectator
"A scarifying dive into China's pernicious spy state...A prescient, alarming work on the overreach of technology and state power."--Kirkus Reviews
The Perfect Police State should come with a warning: the scope of the Chinese surveillance state is deeper, broader, more insidious and terrifying than you can imagine. Geoffrey Cain deftly details how China has used global businesses, unabashed censorship at home and alliances with authoritarian regimes to create an ever-expanding police state. Cain doesn't lose sight of the people entrapped by the system... The Perfect Police State is a tour-de-force.--Elizabeth Becker, author of When the War Was Over
"Packing a wealth of information into a crisp narrative, this is an impassioned and well-informed expos�."--Publishers Weekly
"The future has arrived and it is beyond anything George Orwell could have imagined. In this important new book, Cain details exactly how the Chinese Communist Party deployed 21st century technology--facial recognition, DNA tracking, artificial intelligence--to trap millions of its own citizens in a terrifying dystopia."
--Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
In an expose that is as timely as it is alarming, Geoffrey Cain shows how China is using artificial intelligence and totalitarian repression to turn its westernmost region into a human-rights hellhole. After reading The Perfect Police State, it is impossible to regard the Chinese leadership with anything other than contempt--and fear.
--Blaine Harden, author of Escape from Camp 14

Geoffrey Cain is American journalist, author, and writer. He specializes in Asian-based reporting. Cain is an expert on business groups in Asia, especially South Korea's chaebol, or family-run conglomerates like Samsung and Hyundai. His work has appeared in The Economist, Time and The Wall Street Journal.

An in-depth, on-the ground view of how Chinese officials have co-opted technology, infrastructure and the minds of their people to establish the definitive police state. When blocked from facts and truth, and constantly under surveillance, most citizens cannot discern between enemy and friend and don't have the information they need to challenge the government. Society quickly breaks down. Friends betray each other, bosses snitch on employees, teachers rat on their students, and children turn on their parents. Everyone must turn to their government for protection. even if the government is not their true protector. This is the Perfect Police State, and China has created one. In The Perfect Police State Geoffrey Cain, an Asia-based reporter, recounts his travels and investigations into the multifaceted and comprehensive surveillance network in the Western Chinese province of Xinjiang. Drawing on first-hand testimony, and one citizen's tumultuous life and escape from Xinjiang, Cain describes the emergence of China's tech surveillance giants, and the implications for our global order, in an age of Covid-19 and police brutality protests. What results is a vivid and haunting investigation into how China established an effective and enduring technological dystopia.

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