Authorities to Remove Chinese-Made Surveillance Cameras From Government Departments

Federal government ‘riddled with CCP spyware’: shadow minister

Hikvision surveillance cameras outside the Hikvision headquarters in Hangzhou, in east China's Zhejiang province, on May 22, 2019. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Australia has ordered the removal of all Chinese-made surveillance cameras from the country’s government sites “as soon as possible,” in the latest Western move to combat the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s overseas technology.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles announced the order on Feb. 9, following an audit that revealed that almost 1000 Chinese-made surveillance cameras were installed across over 250 sites of Commonwealth departments and agencies, including foreign affairs and defence sites.

“We’re doing an assessment of all the technology for surveillance within the defence estate and where those particular cameras are found. They’ll be removed,” Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

“It’s a significant thing that’s been brought to our attention, and we’re going to fix it. It’s obviously been there … for some time and predates us coming into office.”

The cameras were provided by Chinese companies Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. and Zhejiang Dahua Technology, both accused of being involved in the CCP’s human rights atrocities against Uyghurs in the western region of Xinjiang and have been banned by the United Kingdom and the United States in November 2022.

Picture of Hikvision cameras in an electronic mall in Beijing on May 24, 2019. Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty Images

Hikvision has been revealed to have close ties to the CCP and its military. Partly owned by the CCP regime, the group is the world’s largest video surveillance manufacturer.

Audit Shows Commonwealth ‘riddled with CCP spyware’

The move comes after Shadow Minister for Cyber Security & Countering Foreign Interference James Paterson released the findings of a six-month audit of all commonwealth departments. He launched the audit after the Home Affairs Department failed to advise him how many of the Chinese-made devices were installed in government buildings.

It’s revealed that the Chinese-made cameras and security equipment were found in almost every department except Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Agriculture Department.

The Attorney-General’s Department had 195 Chinese-made devices across 29 sites; the Department of Climate Change and Energy had 154; Treasury had 115; Finance 122, and the Department of Social Services 134.

The number of such devices in the Foreign Affairs Department was not revealed, but at least 28 sites were potentially affected.

The Defence Department was not certain about the total number of Chinese cameras but said there was at least one.

Number of China-made devices in Australian federal departments. supplied

Paterson said the federal government buildings were “riddled with CCP spyware.”

“This presents a unique ­national security risk to Australia. With Hikvision and Dahua devices fitted across the Australian government, including at the heart of our national intelligence community, the companies and their employees may be forced to provide the Chinese government with their 24-hour access to valuable surveillance data,” he said in a statement on Feb. 9.

Senator James Paterson of the centre-right Liberal Party before a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on Sept. 5, 2022. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Paterson, who is on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, warned about the inherent national security risk, considering that the Chinese companies must hand over data to the CCP’s intelligence agencies under the Chinese National Intelligence Law.

“There has been a number of vulnerabilities identified in these products in the past where remote users could gain full control of them, switch on the cameras or switch on the audio, for example,” he told Sky News.

“What’s most important is like Huawei, who was banned from our 5G network, they are beholden to the Chinese Communist Party … Every Chinese citizen and every Chinese company must co-operate with China’s intelligence agencies and must keep that co-operation secret so they could be prevailed upon by the Chinese government.”

The shadow minister urged the Albanese government to take immediate action on the issue.

“So far, the Australian government has announced no plan to do so, although some government departments and agencies, including the National Disability Insurance Agency and the Australian War Memorial, have pledged to remove the devices from their sites,” Paterson said.

“We urgently need a plan from the Albanese government to rip every one of these devices out of Australian government departments and agencies.”

The National Disability Protection Administration decided in December 2022 to remove Chinese-made surveillance equipment at its national office in Geelong, Victoria. A Hikvision CCTV system with 132 cameras and four recorders will be removed by March and replaced with a vetted system.

In addition, Kim Beazley, the Australian War Memorial’s newly appointed chair and former Labor defence minister confirmed on Feb. 8 that the museum was removing Chinese-made surveillance equipment as a precaution.

Five surveillance cameras made by Hikvision are expected to be removed this month, and the remaining six will be replaced by mid-2023, the Canberra Times reported.

Defence Minister Warns Against Overreacting

Marles said the issue was important, that the Defence Department was searching for other equipment and would rip them out if it found any.

“This is an issue … 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,” he told ABC.

However, the minister warned against overreacting.

“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 said.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles speaks at a press conference during the 32nd annual Australia-U.S. Ministerial (AUSMIN) consultations at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2022. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was not concerned about incurring another diplomatic freeze with Beijing on the issue, just as what happened after Australia banned Huawei and ZTE from supplying the nations’ 5G network in 2018.

“We act in accordance with Australia’s national interest,” Albanese said at a press conference on Feb. 9. “We do so transparently. That’s what we’ll continue to do.”