1.3 billion Chinese citizens to get new ID cards

CHINA IS TO arm its lucky lucky 1.3 billion citizens with ID cards over the next five years, but some will get their new chipped up identities as soon as March.

That's what the People's Daily says today.

The technology used in the card will include a chip and as far as can be judged, the card and the semiconductor are both Chinese implementations.

The card, said the scary Daily, will "greatly increase security because police can use a card processing machine to check" it.

Some lucky citizens will get the 85.6mm by 54mm as early as March, with the entire scheme complete by 2008.

The Daily claims that the country will allow "free movements of population" but such a "floating population" will make it difficult to "maintain public security".

See Also
China throws more people into jail for online opinions