The Sharp Eyes programme will encourage Chinese citizens to spy on each other and report illegal behaviour

Beijing has created a huge security network that will allow the Chinese to watch CCTV footage from around the country on their phones and televisions.

The operation, called Sharp Eyes, inspired by the communist phrase “the masses have sharp eyes”, has been devised to encourage China’s 1.3 billion people to spy on each other.

It uses artificial intelligence and face recognition technology to allow the public to watch live footage from security cameras then report suspected illegal activity to the authorities.

Wang Qiang, a scholar at China’s National Defence University of the People’s Liberation Army, told state media: “Every household can become a monitor terminal, and every villager can be a monitor. This is in line with the CPC’s [Chinese Communist Party] ‘mass line’ tradition,