Senator Sam Brownback has said that China is planning on spying on hotel guests internet usage during the Beijing Olympic games.

“The Chinese government has put in place a system to spy on and gather information about every guest at hotels where Olympic visitors are staying,” Kansas Senator Sam Brownback told reporters.

“This means journalists, athletes’ families, human rights advocates and other visitors will be subjected to invasive intelligence gathering by the Chinese Public Security Bureau.”

I believe most western countries monitor internet usage at some level. The only difference is the terminology. When the U.S. talks about China they use the word “spying”, when they talk about doing the same thing in their own countries they call it “monitoring” or “surveillance”, all legal under the Patriot Act.

Here is China’s response to the claim:

“The security precautions in place don’t exceed the conventional rules followed worldwide,” spokesman Liu Jianchao told a media gathering in Beijing Thursday. “The criticism is unjustified. In China, the private sphere of people in hotels and in public places is protected.”