All things have a class character. In the PRC, surveillance is used to keep the people and the streets very safe. In the US or UK for example, surveillance is used to protect the property of the rich, and imprison poorer peoples. The only reason for skepticism, is because people see how these things are used against the people in the west, and not for them.

You can walk around in nearly any city in the PRC and feel completely safe, and the cameras are definitely a part of that. You can watch videos on youtube with westerners walking around at night in any given city in the PRC, and they’re stunned at how safe it is. Even from a liberal perspective, security and personal safety is liberty / freedom. From a proletarian perspective, its a very non-intrusive way to prevent street crime on a mass scale and make sure cities stay walkable and safe.