Australian officials said Tuesday dozens of Chinese-made security cameras would be ripped out of politicians’ offices, days after the country’s defence minister announced his department would remove the devices from its buildings due to security concerns.
The cameras were made by companies Hikvision and Dahua, which have been blacklisted in the US for allegedly helping the Chinese government carry out a “campaign of repression”. “We hope Australia will provide a fair, just and nondiscriminatory environment for the normal operations of Chinese enterprises,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. At least 913 Chinese-made security cameras have been installed across more than 250 Australian government buildings, including the Department of Defence’s facilities, according to figures released last week.Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles told national broadcaster ABC last week that all these cameras within his department’s buildings would be removed, saying it was to “make sure that our facilities are completely secure”.Officials from the Department of Finance on Tuesday confirmed a further 65 closed-circuit television systems had been installed within offices used by Australian politicians.While the department had been gradually replacing the cameras as part of a broader security upgrade, at least 40 systems still needed to be stripped out, the department said, adding that they would be replaced by April.The CCTV cameras were not connected to the internet, and were being removed as a precaution, the department said.Similar moves have been made in the United States and Britain, which have taken measures to stop government departments installing Chinese-made cameras at sensitive sites.