This figure shows a Chinese Dahua brand security camera in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, February 9, 2023.
Mark Baker / AP
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Mark Baker / AP
This figure shows a Chinese Dahua brand security camera in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, February 9, 2023.
Mark Baker / AP
CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian Department of Defense will remove surveillance cameras made by companies with links to the Chinese Communist Party from their buildings, the government said on Thursday after the United States and Britain made the move. perform the same actions.
The Australian newspaper reported on Thursday that at least 913 cameras, intercoms, electronic entry systems and video recorders developed and manufactured by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua are among the documents. Australian government departments and agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Hikvision and Dahua are partly owned by the government ruled by the Communist Party of China.
The Chinese Embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s general response to such moves is to protect its high-tech companies as good citizens who abide by all local laws and do not engage in the collection of personal information. government or party newspaper.
The US government said in November ban telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from several well-known Chinese brands including Hikvision and Dahua in an effort to protect the nation’s communications network.
Security cameras made by Hikvision were also banned from UK government buildings in November.
Defense Secretary Richard Marles said his department was evaluating all of its surveillance technology.
Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“There’s a problem here and we’re going to solve it,” added Marles.
An inspection found that Hikvision and Dahua security cameras and equipment were found in almost every department except the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The Australian War Memorial and the National Disability Insurance Agency said they would remove Chinese cameras found at their sites, ABC reported.
Opposition cybersecurity spokesman James Paterson said he prompted the audit by questioning for more than six months each federal agency, after the Home Office was unable to say how many Cameras, access control systems and intercoms have been installed in government buildings.
“We desperately need a plan from the government…
Both companies are subject to China’s National Intelligence Law, which requires them to cooperate with Chinese intelligence agencies, he said.
“We have no way of knowing if the sensitive, visual and audio information collected by these devices was secretly sent back to China against the interests of Australian citizens,” Paterson said. “.
