The Australian government announced on Thursday that it will investigate the surveillance equipment used in defence department offices amid the US-China spy balloon dispute, following accusations that cameras deployed there were built in China and presented a security concern.
According to Defence Minister Richard Marles, “This is a problem, and we’re performing an examination of all the surveillance technologies within the defence (department), and where those particular cameras are located, they are going to be removed.”
The action was taken after Britain urged its government departments in November to halt installing surveillance cameras with Chinese connections at important buildings out of concern for national security, according to Reuters.
The article claims that a number of Chinese technology companies’ vendors and goods are prohibited in several US jurisdictions.
James Paterson, the shadow cybersecurity minister, disclosed that more than 250 Australian government offices have around 1,000 items made by the Chinese firms Hikvision and Dahua installed after conducting an examination of surveillance equipment.
According to Reuters, Paterson urged the administration to quickly devise a plan to remove all such cameras.
Hikvision stated that it was “categorically incorrect” to suggest that the company posed a threat to Australia’s national security as it was unable to access end-user video footage, administer end-user databases, or offer cloud storage services there.
A representative spokesperson responded via email, saying, “Our cameras are compliant with all applicable Australian laws and regulations and are subject to strict security requirements”.
The National War Memorial in Canberra will reportedly remove many security cameras that were installed there and were built in China due to privacy concerns, according to Australian media.
Australia’s decision to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G internet network in 2018 caused diplomatic tensions between the two countries, which have been striving to be repaired.
Their relationship was further harmed by Australia’s demand for an impartial investigation into COVID-19’s origins.
China replied by imposing taxes on a number of Australian goods.
Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, stated that he was not worried about how China could respond to the removal of cameras.”We act in accordance with Australia’s national interest. We do so transparently and that’s what we will continue to do,” Albanese assured the media.
