
Printed Chinese and Australian flags are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022.
16:56 JST, February 9, 2023
SYDNEY, Feb 9 (Reuters) – The Australian government will examine surveillance technology used in offices of the defense department, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Thursday, amid reports the Chinese-made cameras installed there raised security risks.
The move comes after Britain in November asked its departments to stop installing Chinese-linked surveillance cameras at sensitive buildings. Some U.S. states have banned vendors and products from several Chinese technology companies.
This is an issue and … we’re doing an assessment of all the technology for surveillance within the defense (department) and where those particular cameras are found, they are going to be removed, Marles told ABC Radio in an interview.
Opposition lawmaker James Paterson said on Thursday his own audit had revealed almost 1,000 units of equipment by Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Dahua Technology Co – two partly state-owned Chinese firms – were installed across more than 250 Australian government offices.
Paterson, the shadow minister for cyber security and countering foreign interference, urged the government to urgently come up with a plan to remove all such cameras.
Marles said the issue was significant but “I don’t think we should overstate it.”
Australian media reported on Wednesday that the national war memorial in Canberra would remove several Chinese-made security cameras installed on the premises over concerns of spying.
Hikvision and Dahua Technology did not immediately respond to request seeking comment.
Australia and China have been looking to mend diplomatic ties which soured after Canberra in 2018 banned Huawei from its 5G broadband network. That cooled further after Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
China responded with tariffs on several Australian commodities.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was not concerned about how Beijing might react 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 told reporters.
"News Services" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Shooter Kills At Least Nine in Attack on Austrian School, Mayor Says
-
North Korea Fired Multiple-launch Rockets from Near Pyongyang, South Korea Says
-
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average Hits 4-Month High on Wall Street’s Lead; BOJ Lifts Banks(UPDATE 1)
-
Air India Passenger Plane with 244 Aboard Crashes in India’s Northwestern Ahmedabad City
-
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average Ends at over 11-Month High as US Stocks Rally Boosts Risk Appetite (UPDATE 1)
JN ACCESS RANKING
-
Japan Eyes Hosting Major International Standards Conference in 2029; Govt Making Plans to Host IEC Event in Yokohama
-
Tariff-Free Rice to Be Auctioned Off 3 Months Early, as Japan Seeks to Tame High Prices for the Staple
-
Agriculture Minister Considers Review of Japan’s Rice Harvest Statistics (UPDATE 1)
-
Japan’s Core Inflation Hits 2-year High, Keeps Rate-Hike Bets Alive
-
Carmakers’ Anxiety Grows as U.S. Tariff Talks Stall;Japan Exporters May Have No Choice But to Raise Prices