Stakeholder Capitalism, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal target 16.9 (legal identity for all), the necessity of inclusive Digital Transformation, and the core principle of Leave No One Behind.

These terms are frequently used by international organizations (such as the UN and World Bank) and private sector entities in discussions about sustainable and equitable global development in the digital age.

Key Concepts

Leave No One Behind (LNOB): This is the “central, transformative promise” of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is an unequivocal commitment to eradicate poverty, end discrimination, and reduce inequalities, focusing on the most marginalized populations first. This principle is meant to cut across all 17 SDGs.

SDG 16.9: This specific target under SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) aims to “provide legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030”. A legal identity is considered a fundamental human right and a prerequisite for accessing many other rights and services (healthcare, education, finance, voting, social protection), making it a key enabler for the entire 2030 Agenda.

Digital Transformation: The rapid shift towards a digitally enabled society offers immense opportunities for sustainable development but also risks exacerbating existing inequalities if not implemented thoughtfully. International bodies advocate for “inclusive by design” digital transformation strategies that place people and human rights at the center to ensure that vulnerable populations are not excluded from new digital services and opportunities.

Stakeholder Capitalism Partnership: This concept involves a business model where companies focus not just on shareholder value but also on meeting the needs of all stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers, local community, and the environment). Literature suggests that this approach can foster global partnerships and provide an optimal source for promoting decent work, economic growth, and innovation in a sustainable manner, aligning with the SDGs.

Interconnection The provided phrase connects these elements as a framework for inclusive global progress:

1. A Stakeholder Capitalism Partnership approach is seen as a way to mobilize resources and bring together different actors (governments, private sector, civil society).
2. This collaborative effort would drive a worldwide Digital Transformation that is intentionally designed to be inclusive.
3. A core objective of this digital transformation is to achieve SDG 16.9 (legal identity for all), often by leveraging digital identity systems.
4. The ultimate goal of all these intertwined efforts is to uphold the promise to Leave No One Behind in the digital era.

n 2025, the intersection of Stakeholder Capitalism, SDG 16.9 (Legal Identity), and Digital Transformation has become a critical focal point for global development efforts aimed at ensuring no one is left behind.

Global Strategy and Progress 2025

SDG 16.9 and Legal Identity: As of 2025, approximately 850 million people worldwide still lack official identification, a fundamental barrier to accessing health, education, and financial services.

Leave No One Behind (LNOB): This remains the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, focusing on reaching the “furthest behind first” to eradicate poverty and systemic discrimination.

Digital Transformation as a Lever: The UN and its partners have identified digital transformation as one of six critical transitions needed to accelerate SDG progress by 2030.

Key 2025 Partnerships and Initiatives

Stakeholder Capitalism & Business Action: The World Economic Forum (WEF) hosted the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings 2025 in September to convene business leaders and policymakers on digital trade and inclusive growth.

Identification for Development (ID4D): The World Bank’s ID4D cross-practice initiative continues to support countries in implementing digital ID systems to achieve the SDG 16.9 target.

UN System-Wide Efforts: The 2025 ECOSOC Partnership Forum utilized global stakeholder consultations to harness the power of multi-sector partnerships for SDG implementation.

The SDG 16 Conference 2025 (held May 12, 2025) focused on how investing in peace, justice, and institutions delivers practical dividends for governments and people.

Risks and Challenges in 2025

• Digital Exclusion: Experts warn that rushing digital solutions without robust legal frameworks can inadvertently “lock out” vulnerable groups, making them “invisible” to governments.
• Data Protection & Privacy: Ensuring data protection alongside digital identity is a major challenge; misuse of biometric data remains a grave risk for marginalized populations.
• Funding Gaps: Official Development Assistance (ODA) saw its first decline in five years in late 2024/early 2025, primarily due to shifting global priorities and debt crises in low-income countries.
• In 2025, programmable and multi-functional digital identification systems have moved from theory to widespread practical implementation across several nations. These systems allow users to selectively share attributes, sign documents, and access integrated government and private services directly through mobile applications.
• Countries with Active Systems (2025)
• Bhutan
• : In February 2025,
• Bhutanintroduced its National Digital Identity (NDI), which uses self-sovereign identity (SSI) technology. By October 2025, key parts of the system were anchored to the public Ethereum blockchain, allowing residents to manage credentials for over 40 services, including banking and healthcare.
• India
• : The Aadhaar system, covering 97% of the population, has evolved in 2025 with a new mobile app that allows for offline verification via QR codes and face authentication. It is used for “programmable” benefits delivery, where subsidies are sent directly to bank accounts linked to digital IDs.
• South Korea
• : Launched a digital Resident Registration Card in 2025 that uses blockchain and encryption. It fully replaces physical cards for mobile banking and is tied to a specific smartphone for security; if the device is lost, the ID can be deactivated immediately via a telecom provider.
• Brazil
•  continues to expand its blockchain-based digital ID program, which began in 2023. This decentralized system links the Federal Revenue Service with state databases, ensuring data protection and preventing document fraud across all 27 states.
• European Union (Member States):
• Estonia
• : A long-term leader, Estonia’s e-ID allows for digital signatures that are legally binding across the EU. As of 2025, it is transitioning toward the EUDI Wallet.
• Austria
•  & 
• Spain
• : Both launched or expanded mobile ID systems (ID Austria and MiDNI) in 2025, allowing citizens to store driver’s licenses and national IDs on smartphones for online and offline use.
• Poland
• : Over 8 million citizens use the mObywatel app, which is now legally equivalent to physical ID cards for most daily activities.
• Emerging “Programmable” Features in 2025
• Selective Disclosure: New systems in
• China
•  (launched July 2025) and the EU (EUDI Wallet pilots) allow users to verify specific attributes—such as being over 18—without revealing their full name or date of birth.
• Conditional Access: The
• United Kingdom
•  announced a nationwide Digital ID in September 2025, which will become mandatory for employment by 2029.
• Cross-Border Interoperability: In September 2025, 16 southern African countries (SADC) announced a regional cross-border digital ID infrastructure to enable federated e-KYC (Know Your Customer) for banking and payments.

In 2025, Programmable Digital Identification refers to identity systems where the credentials are not just static records but can interact with software (such as smart contracts) to automate actions based on verified identity attributes.

Key Features of Programmable ID in 2025

Smart Contract Integration: Digital IDs are increasingly tied to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and other digital assets. This allows “programmable money” to be released only when specific identity conditions are met, such as age verification or residency status.

Selective Disclosure: Users can “program” their ID to share only the minimum necessary data—for example, proving they are over 18 without revealing their actual date of birth or name.

Conditional Access: Access to services can be automated. For instance, a digital wallet can automatically unlock a rental car or a hotel room as soon as it cryptographically verifies the user’s booking and identity.

Machine-to-Machine ID: In 2025, “identity” has expanded to include IoT devices and AI agents, which use programmable credentials to authorize autonomous transactions.

Implementation by Country (2025 Status)

Bhutan: In October 2025, Bhutan’s National Digital Identity (NDI) anchored its credentials to the public Ethereum blockchain, making it the first national-scale system to use a public ledger for programmable identity verification.

United Arab Emirates: Recognized as the global leader in digitalization in 2025, the UAE uses the UAE Pass to allow citizens to sign documents and access 3,000+ services with a single, programmable biometric login.

European Union: In 2025, member states are rolling out the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, which allows citizens to store and “program” the use of diplomas, driver’s licenses, and IDs for cross-border services.

India: The Aadhaar mobile app (updated in 2025) now supports offline verification via QR codes and face authentication, enabling “programmable” interactions with private sector services without constant central database queries.

United Kingdom: In September 2025, the UK announced the “Brit Card,” a mandatory app-based system aimed for full rollout by 2029 to simplify interactions with healthcare and welfare.

Emerging 2025 Trends

Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI): A shift toward users owning their data on their own devices rather than in a central government “honeypot” database.

Liveness Detection: To combat AI-generated deepfakes, 2025 systems now mandate 3D face scans and micro-movement tracking as standard for “programmable” remote verification.

Continuous Multi-Factor Verification (MFV): Systems no longer just verify you at login; they continuously monitor behavior and device signals throughout a session to ensure the identity remains valid.

The World Bank Group, primarily through its Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative, actively supports the implementation of digital identification systems in developing countries but focuses on inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems rather than explicitly “programmable” ones in the commercial sense of smart contracts. Its focus is on using digital ID as a platform for service delivery and financial inclusion, guided by the 10 Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development to ensure data protection and privacy.

World Bank’s Approach to Digital ID

Goal: The ID4D initiative aims to provide a unique legal identity for all by 2030 (SDG 16.9), with over 800 million people worldwide still lacking official ID as of late 2025.

Focus on Service Delivery: The World Bank views digital ID as an enabler for essential services such as social protection, healthcare, and financial access, especially for the poor and disadvantaged. The integration of these services into a broader “service stack” or Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) allows for more efficient and automated service delivery, which shares characteristics with the functionality of “programmable” systems.

Technology & Standards: The Bank promotes the use of biometrics and digital databases to replace paper-based systems, ensuring systems are robust, interoperable, and conform to an overall standards-based architecture.

Data Protection & Rights: The World Bank emphasizes the need for strong legal frameworks, data security, and privacy protection, and provides guidelines for policymakers to consider as they modernize their ID systems.

“Programmable” Aspects within the ID4D Framework..While the World Bank does not use the term “programmable” in official documentation in the context of commercial smart contracts, the systems it helps implement have the functionality to automate conditional service delivery:

G2Px Initiative: ID4D works closely with its sister initiative, G2Px (digitalizing government to person payments), to facilitate the direct and efficient transfer of benefits to individuals’ bank accounts linked to their digital ID, a “programmable” benefit delivery in function. In Thailand, for example, linking digital IDs to bank accounts allowed for rapid distribution of emergency cash assistance.

Conditional Access: The ID systems supported in countries like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are designed to facilitate linkages with national social registries and health insurance programs to ensure improved targeting of various social programs.

Criticisms .The World Bank’s ID4D program has faced criticism from civil society organizations regarding the potential for human rights violations. Concerns include:

The promotion of potentially harmful models of digital ID systems that use centralized, biometric data collection.

Instances where poorly implemented ID systems have reportedly led to the exclusion and disenfranchisement of marginalized populations, as alleged with the Aadhaar system in India.

A call for greater transparency and independent, rights-based assessments of the World Bank’s role in supporting these systems.

The World Bank Group and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) are involved in digital ID and currency discussions but maintain distinct approaches regarding “programmable” features.

World Bank Group & ID4D Initiative..The World Bank, through its ID4D initiative, supports developing countries in creating inclusive, secure, and interoperable digital identification systems.

Focus: The primary goal is achieving SDG 16.9 (legal identity for all by 2030) and using ID as a platform to deliver essential services like social protection, healthcare, and finance.

“Programmable” Functionality: While not using the explicit term “programmable ID” in the commercial smart contract sense, the systems they help implement enable automated, conditional service delivery (e.g., G2Px payments), which is functionally similar to programmable benefits distribution.

Principles: The initiative is guided by the 10 Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development, emphasizing data protection, privacy, and the minimization of risks like social exclusion.

 

Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ)

The RBNZ is exploring a potential Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), referred to as “Digital Cash,” but has explicitly stated it will not program the money itself.

No “Programmable Money”: The RBNZ has clarified that it will not place limitations or constraints on how the digital cash can be used (e.g., expiry dates or restrictions on spending location).

Programmable Payments: Instead, the RBNZ aims to enable a system where third parties (fintechs, banks, etc.) can build innovative “programmable payments” on top of the digital cash platform. This would allow users to set up automated, conditional transfers (e.g., an automatic rent payment via smart contract), giving users control over their money, similar to automatic payments today.

Privacy and Control: A key design principle for New Zealand’s potential Digital Cash is privacy. The RBNZ has emphasized that neither it nor the government would be able to see an individual’s transactions or collect personal data.

New Zealand’s Digital ID Framework: New Zealand’s wider digital identity framework is governed by the Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Act 2023, administered by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). This framework focuses on secure, voluntary, and private digital credentials (wallets) that the user controls, rather than a central government-operated tracking system.

There is no formal partnership between the World Bank and the RBNZ specifically for a “programmable digital ID” or currency. The RBNZ’s work on digital cash and the DIA’s work on the digital ID framework are separate from the World Bank’s ID4D initiative, which primarily assists developing nations.

The term “China’s scorecard” most commonly refers to its national social credit system, which rates citizens and businesses on a scale of trustworthiness based on their behavior. The related but distinct digital identification system, officially known as the “Cyberspace ID” system, uses digital technology to link online activity to real-life identities, which complements the social credit system and allows for enhanced state control and surveillance.

China’s Social Credit System (The “Scorecard”)

Function: The social credit system assigns individuals and entities a score, typically ranging from 350 to 950 in pilot programs, which influences their access to various services and privileges.

Behavior Monitoring: The system tracks a wide range of actions, including financial responsibility, compliance with laws (e.g., traffic rules), and general social behavior like littering.

Rewards and Punishments:

High Scores (Rewards): Benefits may include cheaper loans, discounts on travel, and easier access to government services.

Low Scores (Punishments): Consequences can be severe, such as travel bans (being barred from trains or flights), denial of loans or mortgages, public shaming, and exclusion of children from top schools.

Goal: The government presents the system as a way to enhance trust in society and encourage better citizenship.

China’s Digital Identification System:-

Function: Rolled out nationally in July 2025, this system provides a unique, encrypted alphanumeric ID and a digital certificate to internet users after real-name and facial verification.

Integration with Surveillance: The digital ID system allows authorities to link online activities directly to a person’s national monitoring systems, effectively eroding online anonymity, which had already been curtailed by “real-name” registration laws.

Official Rationale vs. Concerns:-

Official Rationale: Authorities claim the system protects citizens’ personal information from data leaks and fraud by minimizing the data shared with private platforms.

Concerns: Human rights groups and analysts express serious concerns that the system is a centralized tool for mass surveillance and censorship, threatening online expression and potentially creating a “honeypot” of data vulnerable to massive leaks.

Status: While authorities maintain that the use of the Cyberspace ID is currently voluntary, some analysts warn it could become de facto mandatory due to its integration with major platforms like WeChat and Taobao.

IN 2025…CHINA’S  “scorecard” is primarily represented by its Social Credit System, which is now increasingly integrated with a centralized National Cyberspace ID. This digital infrastructure allows the state to track behaviors and apply “programmable” consequences—both rewards and punishments—based on an individual’s digital score.

The National Cyberspace ID System (Launched July 2025) On July 15, 2025, China officially implemented a unified digital identity system designed to centralize online authentication.

• Encrypted Identifiers: Users are issued a “network number” (a unique alphanumeric code) and a “network credential”.
• Centralized Control: Administered by the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China, this system replaces the need to provide personal data to private platforms like WeChat or Taobao.
• Elimination of Anonymity: While marketed as a privacy tool, critics note it effectively links every online action—posts, purchases, and logins—directly to a government-controlled profile, ending any remaining online anonymity.

Programmable “Scorecard” Functions

The system functions as a programmable scorecard by linking behaviors to real-world access through the Social Credit System:

Behavioral Tracking: The system monitors actions such as shopping habits, social media interactions, and even jaywalking.

Dynamic Consequences:

High Scores: Citizens with high scores can access perks like cheaper loans, travel deals, and priority service.

Low Scores/Blacklisting: Low scores can lead to being barred from high-speed trains, planes, or luxury hotels, and can even prevent children from enrolling in top schools.

Real-Time Enforcement: The digital ID can be programmed to instantly block access to services if a user’s behavior is deemed “anti-social” or non-compliant with state rules.

Key Components of the Digital Infrastructure:-

Biometric Integration: The system relies heavily on facial recognition and national population data for verification.

Digital Yuan (e-CNY): China continues to expand its programmable digital currency, which can be restricted to specific types of purchases or geographic areas, further enhancing the “programmable” nature of citizen control.

Corporate Partnerships: Major platforms like Alibaba and Tencent are integrated into the system to facilitate state-led identity verification.

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/5512706-china-internet-id-law/#:~:text=The%20digital%20ID%20system%20also,sensitive%20biometric%20records%20in%202022.

In this photo taken Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018, a computer screen shows the leaked online post from Guilin University of Electronic Technology warning of “hostile domestic and foreign powers” that were “wantonly spreading illicit and illegal videos” through the internet in Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

On July 15, China passed new legislation known as the National Network Identity Authentication, also called Internet ID. Under this new law, Chinese citizens would voluntarily enroll via a government app, submitting their true name and a facial scan, after which they would be issued a unique ID code used for all online accounts. As of May, approximately 6 million individuals had already obtained IDs during the pilot phase.

Based upon the nature of the control the Chinese Communist Party has over media and censorship, it is not surprising the Chinese government desires the ability to track its population during their internet sessions, especially those citizens who would be critical of the current regime or dissidents that are living outside mainland China.

The new Internet ID law expands on an ongoing digital authoritarianism agenda pursued by China in recent years. Already, the Chinese government has demonstrated its growing capacity and willingness to monitor its citizens’ online activities.

From the widespread usage of internet backbone filtering through the “Great Firewall” to the mandatory real-name registration implemented since 2010, Beijing has increasingly restricted avenues for anonymous speech online. The new ID system is designed to further tighten the government’s grip on cyberspace at an individual level.

This law would enable the Chinese government, enabled by the new digital ID system, to centralize user identities in a government-controlled database, allowing authorities to track which user fronts which online account, even if platforms only see the anonymized token. This approach applies nation-state censorship in a more individualized way and introduces the possibility that content may be filtered or platforms blocked for certain users, both within China, where the government manages internet access, and potentially on a broader scale.

It could allow the Chinese government to use filters and blocking mechanisms within a platform to limit access to certain services associated with a personalized digital ID for specific individuals. While the legislation claims to be voluntary at launch, many fear that adoption could gradually become mandatory. In China’s regulatory environment, the “voluntary” label has frequently functioned as a transitional stage before compulsory enforcement.

Authorities have encouraged social media giants, e-commerce platforms and even payment providers to begin integrating the Internet ID into their user authentication flows. If access to essential digital services becomes dependent on possession of this ID, individuals may find their ability to function online is effectively contingent upon submitting their biometric and personal data to the state.

This law is just the next step in China’s desire for digital authoritarianism, enhancing the government’s ability to surveil, monitor, shape and control a population down to the individual citizen level.  The digital ID system also complements other previously designed surveillance systems, such as Sharp Eyes, police cloud systems, facial recognition closed-circuit television systems and grid-style social management, allowing the Chinese Ministry of State Security to link online activities directly into national monitoring systems.

The digital ID system also complements broader data-localization and true-name tracking policies first enacted in 2017 under the Cybersecurity Law and fortified under the Personal Information Protection Law of 2021.

The Chinese government will argue that the system protects its citizens from fraud or other cyber-related crimes and is voluntary, but that voluntary argument fails the reality test, based upon mandatory aspects of previous digital legislation. This new digital ID system erodes the anonymity already curtailed by China’s real-name registration laws from 2010.

The other cybersecurity risk that a centralized database creates is the one-stop honeypot of data that, if compromised, could be catastrophic to the Chinese population, not unlike the past leaks of over 1 billion sensitive biometric records in 2022. Looking ahead, the introduction of China’s Internet ID is a decisive move further away from digital anonymity, putting powerful surveillance and censorship tools in the hands of the authorities.

If history is a guide, this technology may not remain voluntary for long. Its effects on privacy, civil liberties and the freedom of expression within and beyond China’s borders could be profound. As more platforms adopt mandatory digital ID checks, Chinese citizens face an even more controlled and surveilled internet for years to come.

James Turgal is the former executive assistant director for the FBI Information and Technology Branch and Optiv Security’s vice president of cyber risk, strategy and board relations.

Tags china Internet ID Chinese government Great Firewall Sharp Eyes

 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/564790/china-tightens-internet-controls-with-new-centralised-form-of-virtual-id

China tightens internet controls with new centralised form of virtual ID  21 June 2025

China has mastered the craft of policing the internet, operating one of the world’s most extensive online censorship and surveillance regimes. With mandatory identity checks on every online platform, it has become almost impossible for users to stay anonymous. But this rigidly moderated online environment is about to face even stricter controls with the introduction of a state-issued national internet ID.

Instead of requiring individuals to submit their personal information for identity checks separately on each platform, the government now seeks to centralise the process by issuing a virtual ID that will allow users to sign in across different social media apps and websites. The rules for the new system, currently voluntary, were released in late May and will be implemented in mid-July. It aims to “protect citizens’ identity information, and support the healthy and orderly development of the digital economy,” according to the published rules.

Experts, however, have raised concerns that the new policy will further erode already limited freedom of expression by forcing internet users to relinquish even more control to the state.

Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012, the country has further tightened its grip on the digital space through an army of censors. Deployed around the clock, they remove posts, suspend accounts and help authorities identify critics, quashing any sign of dissent before it can gain traction.

The finalised rules were announced after a proposal that was opened for public comment last summer, a typical step in China’s legislative process. During the course of the public consultation over the past year, the proposal faced backlash from law professors, human rights experts and some internet users. Yet, the finalised rules remained largely similar to the draft.

“This is a state-led, unified identity system capable of real-time monitoring and blocking of users,” said Xiao Qiang, a research scientist studying internet freedom at the University of California, Berkeley. “It can directly erase voices it doesn’t like from the internet, so it’s more than just a surveillance tool – it is an infrastructure of digital totalitarianism.”

Control of China’s vast portion of the global internet has largely been delegated to a decentralised range of different groups, with authorities relying partially on the social media platforms themselves to identify comments deemed problematic. Xiao warned that a centralised system using the internet ID could make it much easier for the government to wipe out a user’s presence across multiple platforms at once.

Shane Yi, a researcher at China Human Rights Defenders, an advocacy group, echoed Xiao’s worries. The system gives the Chinese government expanded power to “do what they want when they see fit” on the internet, as authorities are able to track users’ entire digital trail “from point zero,” she said.

At home, Chinese state-run media has called the internet ID a “bullet-proof vest for personal information” and touted the system as being able to greatly reduce the risk of personal data leaks. Already, more than six million people have registered for the ID, according to Chinese state-run media Xinhua last month, out of a total estimated online population of more than one billion.

A cybersecurity official from the Ministry of Public Security told Xinhua that the internet ID service was strictly “voluntary,” but the government encourages various industries and sectors to integrate with it. “Its goal is to provide individuals with a secure, convenient, authoritative and efficient means of identity verification, in support of the development of the digital economy,” the person was quoted as saying.

But experts have also questioned how voluntary the system truly is and highlighted risks of potential data breaches, as personal information is now being collected in a centralised manner. Haochen Sun, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said that, although the law presents the system as voluntary, it could gradually evolve into a system which users may struggle not to opt in to.

“If the government wants to promote this internet ID verification system, it can do so through various arrangements – essentially by encouraging people to adopt it, offering more conveniences in return,” he said. Sun also raised concerns about the increased risks of data leaks. “A centralized, nationwide platform inherently creates a single point of vulnerability, making it an attractive target for hackers or hostile foreign actors,” he said.

Government data breaches have occurred around the world. One notable incident in China involved a police database containing the personal information of one billion citizens being leaked online in 2022.

Criticism silenced..Although the new rules won’t take effect until mid-July, hundreds of apps started trialling the internet ID since last year.

The system was born out of a proposal by a police official early last year. Jia Xiaoliang, a cyber police deputy director in northeastern China who is also a delegate to China’s rubber-stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress, first proposed the system during the Congress’ annual meeting in March 2024.

As soon as the government began soliciting public comments on the proposal last July, experts and legal scholars voiced opposition. Lao Dongyan, a prominent law professor at Tsinghua University, compared the system to “installing a surveillance device on every individual’s online activity” in a post on Weibo, an X-like Chinese social media platform.

The post was removed soon after, and her account was subsequently suspended from posting for three months, for “violating relevant rules.”

In late May, when the finalised rules were unveiled after a year, almost no criticism could be found online. Xiao explained that it’s not the first time authorities have spaced out the time between a proposal and its implementation, to allow critics to “blow off steam.” “It’s done deliberately … Many of their measures follow the same pattern, and they’ve proven effective,” he said. 

By John Liu, for CNN

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