Chinese-made security cameras to be removed from government buildings in Australia

Chinese-made security cameras will be removed from government buildings in Australia, said the country's Defence Minister Richard Marles on Thursday, adding that it was important to make facilities "completely secure".

Similar steps were adopted by Britain and the United States, as both countries took measures to stop government departments from installing Chinese-made cameras at sensitive sites.

In November last year, Britain took the step as it feared that the security services of Beijing can force Chinese companies to share intelligence information with them.

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As per official figures gathered by an opposition politician, including one quoted by the Department of Defence, the officials had installed security cameras at more than 200 government buildings in Australia.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles stated that all these cameras will be found and removed from the military sites by the officials.

"It's a significant thing that's been brought to our attention and we're going to fix it," he said while speaking to national broadcaster ABC. "It's important that we go through this exercise and make sure that our facilities are completely secure," the minister added.

The cameras were manufactured by Dahua and Hikvision, the two companies which have been blacklisted in the United States.

The importation of surveillance equipment made by Hikvision and Dahua was banned by the US in November last year, as the government cited that it posed "an unacceptable risk to national security".

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A group of 67 MPs and lords had appealed to the UK government to ban Hikvision and Dahua in July last year after reports surfaced that the equipment was used to spy on Uyghurs living in Xinjiang.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock was also caught kissing an aide and violating Covid rules in June 2021 by a Hikvision camera, which led to his resignation.

Previously, Hikvision said that it was "categorically false" to portray the company as "a threat to national security".

The centre-left government of Australia has been making efforts to improve its relationship with China, after coming to power in May last year.

(With inputs from agencies)

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