rss feedOn Google, aerial views of Zhongnanhai, compound for Chinese leadership
For years, this was the typical view that ordinary people saw of Zhongnanhai, the government compound in Beijing used by senior Chinese leaders. Google maps, especially the Earth view option, has changed that. Photo source: beijing2007.wordpress.com
So, do you remember the recent Google in China row?
The one earlier this year in which the Silicon Valley-based search and technology giant made global news with reports of hacked email accounts and possibly stolen code? The company – which questioned operating a filtered site in the rapidly-growing country – later decamped its mainland China search engine operations to Hong Kong.
Well, in an interesting twist, it looks like the California technology wizards have scored a point (or two) for transparency regarding Zhongnanhai, the compound near the Forbidden City that many in the senior Chinese leadership call home.
How so?
Satellite images on Google maps permit viewers to see over the walls of the compound, where many in China’s leadership meet and reside.
In a way, it’s not a super secret that this complex exists. People living in and visiting Beijing know it’s there – right near the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
The U.S. government posted images of former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez’s visit to Zhongnanhai in 2006. Chinese media outlets have published photographs.
Back in 1999, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Time Asia ran an insightful article about Zhongnanhai, complete with palace intrigue, a black-and-white photograph of leader Mao Zedong rowing a boat in a lake behind the walls and notes about protesters standing outside at various times.
For the power elite in China, the article noted, Zhongnanhai has always been a coveted destination:
Getting into Zhongnanhai has always been hard work, and once you’re in, staying there has never been easy. Thinkers, economists and rebels have all vied to be received there by party leaders.
And I know international reporters have visited and likely have taken photographs to show others.
But as GlobalSecurity.org noted in its description of the Chinese government compound:
Although foreign visitors cannot enter the complex, they can examine it from the exterior.
There are guards around the entrances, such that once when I visited years ago, I saw one telling a person to put a video camera away.
The fact that almost anyone with access to Google maps – including users of Google.com.hk, the site to which mainland Chinese users are directed after they go to Google.cn – can now peer over the walls is, well, something that probably has come to the attention of the security detail responsible for keeping everything calm.
I’m sure, if given the choice, Chinese security officials would prefer that the aerial images not be available to, well, the public.
Think about it this way: Long before a satellite could hover in space and transmit images back to Earth so that Google could repurpose (to use that word) them for daily use by ordinary people, the Chinese government had essentially what was a moat around Zhongnanhai.
As we know, moats have long been a convenient way of telling someone in an unspoken, visual way that you’d like some space.
If you have never seen over the compound’s walls or the moat inside, have a look below:
If the map is not showing up as an embedded image, click on “View Larger Map” to see it in a Google window.
Of course, some in China and other parts of the world might question whether Google’s use of these aerial photographs invade other people’s privacy.
I’m sure that if a company based in another country decided to post aerial images taken of the United States, well, there would be lively chatter about what was happening.
I suppose for the senior Chinese leadership – or at least their security officers - it could be much worse.
First, as we know, there are underground pathways under nearby Tiananmen Square. Google maps to my knowledge has not put those online for the world to see.
Second, Google actually could have add three-dimensional graphics to Zhongnanhai.
The technology giant did so with the nearby Forbidden City (scroll to the right in the Google map above) to give viewers a virtual sense of visiting one of the most famous places in China.
The Great Wall received graphic treatment from Google as well.
Google also added graphics to the White House in Washington, D.C.
I’m sure enough people, including students, were curious enough to see what the White House looked like with walls that Google decided to proceed with it.
By the way, the Grand Canyon takes on a fascinating look with Google Earth maps.
So does the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Hong Kong’s skyscrapers certainly stand out with the Google Earth maps.
By the way, if you can at some point, it’s good to actually visit a place in person. You get a sense of the smell, the people, the noise, the lights, the vibe.
Virtual traveling is a great introduction. But it’s not until you’re physically in a place and realize that everyone around you doesn’t speak English that it sinks in how big the world is.
You also start to wonder how you’re going to order food.
Anyway, the Google maping system hasn’t always won fans around the world.
But the fact that you could see an aerial view of Zhongnanhai also has been possible since last year – even before Google went public with the hacking attempts, which were believed to have originated in China.
I noted the aerial view of the Forbidden City last year. At the time, the middle line that can be seen from above in the Forbidden City fascinated me – it still does.
Only recently did I think about the map system and Zhongnanhai in the context of the Google in China issue.
The images show that technology and its backers can sometimes push the boundaries of what governments want – or like.
As the Google in China issue unfolded earlier this year, company executives talked about running an unfiltered search engine in that country.
Some Chinese writers and government officials responded by saying that Google had to follow the law in China and that there is never a true free flow of online information.
But in the case of the satellite maps, though, the Google techies have proved a point – all you have to do is look.
One difference, though, is that when you use Google maps to view your own home, you know what time of day the camera took the picture.
All you have to do is see if your cars are out front.
UPDATE: I forgot to say that the International Forum in Tokyo is on Google’s list of graphically-enhanced buildings.
As I was looking for it and surveying Tokyo’s skyline, I realized that Google Earth maps remind me of what artist Rob Carter did on Vimeo.
Yes, Seattle’s Space Needle stands in 3-D glory on Google as well.
