Australia Also To Remove China-Made Cameras After US

The Australian govt. has decided to remove Chinese made surveillance cameras from government buildings. They’re termed as ‘A Threat To National Security.’

The country’s defense minister announced on Thursday that Australia would remove Chinese-made security cameras from public buildings because it was essential to make them “totally secure.”

It follows similar actions in the US and the UK, which have also taken steps to prevent government agencies from deploying cameras built in China at sensitive locations.

Fears that Chinese businesses would be coerced to share intelligence with Beijing’s security services prompted Britain to take action in November of last year.

According to official statistics provided by an opposition lawmaker, the security cameras were installed in more than 200 Australian government sites, including at least one managed by the Department of Defence.

Officials would locate and take down all of these cameras at military facilities, according to Australian Minister of Defense Richard Marles.

He informed the national network ABC that “that’s a big item that’s been pointed out to us and we’re going to rectify it.”

“We must complete this procedure and ensure that our premises are totally secure,” the manager said.

The businesses that produced the cameras, Hikvision and Dahua, have both been placed on a US blacklist.

Because it presented “an intolerable risk to national security,” the US prohibited the import of surveillance devices made by Hikvision and Dahua in November of last year.

Following accusations that Hikvision and Dahua equipment had been used to snoop on Uyghurs in Xinjiang, a coalition of 67 MPs and judges in Britain urged the government to outlaw both companies in July of last year.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock was fired in June 2021 after a Hikvision camera recorded him kissing an assistant in breach of Covid standards.

Hikvision has previously stated that to portray the corporation as “a threat to national security” is “categorically incorrect.”

Since taking office in May of last year, Australia’s center-left government has been working to mend its relationship with China.

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At the height of a contentious conflict with the previous conservative administration, China levied significant tariffs on important Australian exports in 2020.