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Under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has cast China as the
world's greatest challenge to security and prosperity, the
government told its departments last year to stop installing
Chinese-linked surveillance cameras at sensitive buildings.
In an announcement setting out a proposed tightening of
procurement rules, the government said:
"We will also commit to publish a timeline for the removal of
surveillance equipment produced by companies subject to China’s
National Intelligence Law from sensitive central government
sites.
"By committing to this timeline, we are providing reassurance
and urgency around the removal plans."
The statement did not name specific companies.
British lawmakers have previously called for a ban on the sale
and use of security cameras made by Hikvision and Dahua, two
partly state-owned Chinese firms, over privacy fears and
concerns of the companies' products being linked to human rights
abuses in China.
"We believe that the possible action by the UK Government is a
further step up of the mounting geopolitical tensions being
expressed through technology bans, which by no means relates to
the security of Hikvision’s products," Hikvision said in a
statement via e-mail.
Beijing has said it "firmly opposes" overstretching the concept
of national security to suppress Chinese enterprises.
Britain barred TikTok on government phones in March this year,
while in 2020 it said it would ban Huawei from its 5G network.
Some U.S. states have banned vendors and products from several
Chinese technology companies.
(Reporting by Muvija M)
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