Australia’s Department of Defence announced on Thursday that it will remove all surveillance cameras manufactured by companies affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from its property.
Australia’s Measures
The Australian reported that at least 913 China-made cameras, intercoms, electronic entry systems, and video recorders are in multiple offices of the Australian government, including its Defense Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
All of this monitoring and communication equipment was manufactured by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua, both of which are partly owned by the CCP.
Opposition cybersecurity spokesperson James Paterson said he had prompted the audit, as both companies are subject to China’s National Intelligence Law, which requires them to cooperate with Chinese intelligence agencies.
“We would have no way of knowing if the sensitive information, images and audio collected by these devices are secretly being sent back to China against the interests of Australian citizens,” Paterson said.
HikVision not only watches over the #politas Parliament, it watches inside, throughout the building, and in government and MPs’ offices ….. with the exception of ours.
— Cassy O'Connor 🪲 (@CassyOConnorMP) February 9, 2023
We made sure two HikVision cameras installed inside the Greens’ offices in 2020 were removed within days.
1. https://t.co/7afOf0Sc7C
Defence Minister Richard Marles told the Australian Broadcasting Corp., “We’re doing an assessment of all the technology for surveillance within the defence estate, and where those particular cameras are found they’re going to be removed.”
“I don’t think we should overstate [the seriousness], but it’s a significant thing that’s been brought to our attention and we’re going to fix it,” he added.
China’s Response
The Chinese Embassy in Australia did not respond to a request for comment.
However, Beijing has historically defended its high-tech companies and routinely dismissed their involvement in the government’s intelligence gathering.
Worried about Chinese espionage in the United States? Stop paying so much attention to this balloon, and start removing Hikvision cameras, Lenovo laptops, and Motorola phones from your life: all are owned by Chinese companies with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
— Isaac Stone Fish (@isaacstonefish) February 3, 2023
Last year, when the US was investigating Chinese telecom giant Huawei for spying on military bases, the Chinese embassy in Washington denied any wrongdoing by Huawei and the CPC.
It further accused the US government of abusing “the concept of national security and state power to go all out to suppress Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies without providing any solid proof that they constitute a security threat to the US and other countries.”
US and UK Ban
Australia’s announcement follows similar decisions made by its Western allies.
In November, the US announced its decision to ban telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from several prominent Chinese companies, including Hikvision and Dahua, to safeguard national security.
In the same month, the UK banned Hikvision’s security cameras from its government buildings as well.