Behave…..or no lift home for you sunshine.

China has a ‘social credit’ system.

Basically, if you play up, mouth off or display any behaviour that doesn’t befit that of a good subject, you can often find your wings clipped when attempting to use the country’s vast transport network. Just one of a few sanctions possible I might add.

This policy has just been further bolstered by Xi Jinping deciding to abolish presidential fixed terms so effectively he could rule forever and even strengthen such laws to restrict the movement of ‘wayward’ citizens.

All this becomes interesting when you consider that ‘Robocabs’ (driverless, electric, automated taxis) are about to be rolled out in American cities like Pittsburgh. Robocabs use lots of Chinese tech’ and the first ones have already been rolled out by Uber – albeit with the safety net of a human ‘attendant’ who can step in if the automated system suddenly goes berserk.

Subject to plenty of plain sailing and no massive pile ups, the worldwide roll out of Robocabs is inevitable with the globe’s largest cities becoming the natural, obvious marketplace.

The bad news is, by virtue that you’re using a device to order a Robocab could leave Chinese subjects exposed to remotely activated restrictions and rendering themselves marooned at the roadside if they’d so much as discarded a cigarette butt. You could effectively be high and dry.

So forget big brother tracking of where you are – you may not even be able to hitch a ride in the first place.

Oh and don’t even think about remonstrating against the huge slight or infringement on your civil liberties because your leader can just change the law. And has done.

So by all means look forward to automated Robocabs and the hugely convenient novelty that brings but remember, what the Chinese Politburo giveth can swiftly become another Chinese takeaway.