Well, it was to be expected in this age of globalism, or is it China-ism, where everything is made in China, thanks to “our” corporations investing there. And, with free trade, things like surveillance cameras and other recording devices get installed in government buildings, made in China, too. But, too bad that almost 1,000 devices have been installed in Australian government buildings, even though two controversial Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua, are part-owned by the CCP. Australia’s Five Eyes and AUKUS partners in Washington and London, have ban or restrict the installation of devices supplied. So, why didn’t the government departments with this gear, sending information back to the CCP, get the memo? Talk about sleep walking to disaster.
“Almost 1000 Chinese Communist Party-linked surveillance cameras and other recording devices, some banned in the US and Britain, have been installed across Australian government buildings, leading to calls for their urgent removal amid fears data could be fed back to Beijing.
Government departments and agencies have revealed at least 913 cameras, intercoms, electronic entry systems and video recorders developed and manufactured by controversial Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua are operating across 250 sites, including in buildings occupied by sensitive agencies such as Defence, Foreign Affairs and the Attorney-General’s Department.
Australia’s Five Eyes and AUKUS partners in Washington and London moved together in November to ban or restrict the installation of devices supplied by the two companies, which are both part-owned by the Chinese Communist Party.
The companies are based in Hangzhou, in eastern China, and are among the world’s leading providers of video surveillance technology and artificial intelligence. All companies headquartered in China are subject to the Chinese National Intelligence Law 2017, which requires them to co-operate with Chinese intelligence agencies if requested to hand over data.
On Thursday morning, Defence Minister Richard Marles said he had ordered his department to remove Chinese government-linked security cameras from defence premises following The Australian’s revelations.
“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,” Mr Marles told ABC’s RN.
“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.”
Also speaking on Thursday morning, Anthony Albanese said he is not concerned about backlash from China after Mr Marles’ announcement.
The Prime Minister denied he was concerned about a repeat of icy relationships with China after Australia banned Huawei from its 5G network. “We act in accordance with Australia’s national interest,” he said. “We do so transparently, that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
Claiming the commonwealth was “riddled with CCP spyware’’, the opposition spokesman on cyber security and countering foreign interference, James Paterson, had called on the Albanese government to immediately get rid of the devices.
The majority are surveillance cameras, which Senator Paterson said posed both national security and moral concerns.
Both companies supply technology to enable the mass-surveillance operation through facial-recognition technology that the Chinese government runs against the minority Uighur population in Xinjiang province.
Senator Paterson uncovered the number of devices after conducting a six-month audit of every commonwealth department. He launched the audit after the Department of Home Affairs was unable to advise how many of the devices were installed in government buildings.
“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.
“Our AUKUS partners and closest security allies, the United States and UK, announced in November that they were banning the devices from all government buildings because of the national security threat that they pose. 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.
“We urgently need a plan from the Albanese government to rip every one of these devices out of Australian government departments and agencies.”
It will be done, once the CCP has all the information it needs, and not a moment before!