A Chinese woman crossed the border for a concert. It could cost her family their welfare

A woman from a low-income family in China crossed over into Hong Kong to get to a concert she had spent months saving up for. It was a trip that Beijing’s vast surveillance apparatus didn’t miss. Now her family face the prospect of losing their government benefits for splurging on “high-end consumption.” The incident has sparked massive debate across Chinese social media over whether those receiving benefits are also entitled to small luxuries. It’s also a reminder of the staggering extent of the Chinese government’s surveillance system, one turbocharged by advances in AI and the embrace of digital payments. The…