SPY CAM FEARS

Chinese firm runs CCTV at parliament

THERE are concerns over plans to put security cameras made by a Chinese government-owned company on parliament lawns.

The firm — Hikvision — has been banned in the US for its role in creating a surveillance system for China. The cameras have also been banned from Australian Defence Force bases.

Already the Hikvision cameras are installed in parliamentary offices and members of the Tibetan community, who protest on the lawns, describe the new instalment as “worrying”.

HIKVISION IS ONE OF A NUMBER OF CHINESEOWNED COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY GIANTS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS HAVING NUMEROUS SECURITY FLAWS, FLAWS THAT SECURITY EXPERTS ALLEGE ARE DELIBERATE

GREENS LEADER CASSY O’CONNOR

A CHINESE firm banned from the US for its role in creating an all-seeing surveillance system designed to crush internal dissent could soon be helping monitor protests on Hobart’s parliament lawns.

Hikvision has been blacklisted by the United States government for its key role in building China’s 24-7 techno surveillance network to perpetrate human rights abuses against minority Uighur Muslims and Tibetans.

The Chinese governmentowned company’s cameras watch over Tasmanian MPs in their parliamentary offices, and will soon be installed to surveil public events outside the building as well.

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor has written to the presiding officers of both houses of parliament to express her concerns.

The party has already had a Hikvision security camera removed from their offices.

“Hikvision is one of a number of Chinese-owned communications technology giants that have been identified as having numerous security flaws, flaws that security experts allege are deliberate,” Ms O’Connor said.

“It is untenable that Hikvision cameras will be installed on parliament’s lawns to surveil democratic activity so essential

to our way of life. It would be reckless to install more Hikvision cameras, particularly on the lawns where, for example, each year members of Tasmania’s Tibetan community gather to hold their vigils.”

The US government has banned the importation of Hikvision cameras into that country, the Australian Defence Force has banned them on their bases and the South Australian Health Department has removed the company’s cameras from its buildings.

The use of equipment made by Chinese companies in sensitive roles is sometimes considered problematic because of Article 7 of China’s National Intelligence Law which requires, “any organisation or citizen shall support, assist, and co-operate with state intelligence work”.

According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Hikvision’s chairman Chen Zongnian told employees that “every party member must consciously accept the party’s leadership, and powerfully strengthen the party’s leadership and the party’s energy, abiding by party discipline and national law”.

In a response to Ms O’Connor’s concerns, Speaker of the House of Assembly Sue Hickey and Legislative Council president Craig Farrell said the cameras had been in place for a decade and the system was not accessible to outsiders.

“The Parliamentary Information Technology Service undertake routine security checks and upgrades on all of the parliament’s system including the CCTV system to make sure there are no security risks that would result in a breach of any data being accessible to outside organisations or persons. Accordingly the security risk is considered extremely low.”

Sonam Thakchoe, from the Tasmanian Tibetan community, said the installation of Hikvision cameras at parliament lawns carried more than just symbolic significance to Tibetan activists who frequently hold vigils there.

“This is a very worrying development indeed,” he said.

“We are very disappointed with the Tasmanian government decision to import Hikvision cameras.

“The Tasmanian government must have known that Hikvision cameras are playing a major part in China's ongoing oppression of the

people of ethnic minorities. Far from defending and safeguarding the individual rights and freedom of Tasmanian citizens, the Tasmanian government is now importing Chinese surveillance technology.

“We are worried that the data these cameras will collect could end up in the hands of Chinese authorities which will eventually use them against our families in Tibet.”