UK agencies ban Chinese surveillance cameras

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — United Kingdom government departments were ordered Thursday to stop installing Chinese-made surveillance cameras at “sensitive sites,” drawing a strong rebuke from one of the companies targeted.

The move comes with the government moving more forcefully against China and its companies on security grounds. Last week it ordered a Chinese-owned firm to divest most of Newport Wafer Fab, Britain’s biggest semiconductor maker.

According to the campaign group Big Brother Watch, most public organizations in Britain use CCTV cameras made either by Hikvision or Dahua.