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Australian government offices recently removed more than 900 Chinese-made surveillance cameras, intercoms, and other electronic items after discovering them in over 250 government offices. Reporters claim that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) knew about this threat and did not tell the public.
A recent government audit uncovered that many government departments and agencies were utilising security equipment made by Chinese manufacturers Hikvision and Dahua.
According to SCMP writer and contributor Ausma Bernot, “Hikvision is the largest manufacturer of video surveillance equipment in the world, selling to around 200 countries. Dahua is Hikvision’s largest global competitor and the second-largest company in this space.”
Bernot added that the MIT Technology Review noted that Hikvision is the ‘world’s largest security surveillance company you have never heard of.’ According to the Australian government’s audit, both Hikvision and Dahua played an integral part in monitoring and controlling the Uygur minority in China’s Xinjiang region.
The US labelled this action a ‘campaign of repression’, to which both companies have suffered a severe backlash.
Allegedly, both companies have strong ties with the Communist Party of China. According to James Paterson, the Opposition Liberal Party’s cybersecurity spokesperson, both of these companies were required by the Chinese National Intelligence Law to cooperate with Chinese intelligence offices.
Paterson added that there is no way for the Australian government to identify if the images and audio captured by these cameras secretly collected and transmitted information to the Chinese intelligence offices.
Furthermore, with this in mind, the government swiftly removed surveillance cameras in their offices. According to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, “we act by Australia’s national interest. We do so transparently, and that’s what we will continue to do.”
Albanese added that he was not concerned about how the Chinese government would react to this strong allegation. The Chinese Embassy in Australia declined to respond to a request for a comment regarding this matter.
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