Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and GCSB Minister Andrew Little react to the report that CCTV cameras made by CCP-linked companies were found in Government departments. Video / Mark Mitchell
Beijing’s representatives in New Zealand have hit back and accused the Herald and Newstalk ZB of having a “cold-war mentality” after this newsroom revealed concerns over security cameras made by Chinese Communist Party-linked companies installed in government departments.
A Newstalk ZB investigation found at least 120 Hikvision or Dahua cameras are installed across the New Zealand Police, Department of Conservation, Ministry of Social Development and Oranga Tamariki.
It comes after Australia’s Government said in February it will remove the surveillance cameras from sensitive buildings, including from several defence and military-associated spaces, after the United States and Britain made similar moves last year.
The CCP owns a portion of the manufacturers Dahua and Hikvision, according to the Associated Press. Additionally, Hikvision has been accused of supporting Beijing’s repression of minorities and observation of demonstrators, both of which it has refuted.
In a statement to the Herald this afternoon, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand expressed concern about what it described as “groundless accusations against China”.
“The author of the article clearly is stuck in the Cold War era, and the article reflects a cold-war mentality,” the statement, which was not attributed to a person, read.
The Herald and Newstalk ZB stand by its report and the author of the story.
The spokesperson also accused foreign “forces” of “deliberately launching a propaganda campaign against China in countries including New Zealand, with the sole purpose of smearing and discrediting China to serve the short-sighted and narrow interests of that certain country, or to put it bluntly, to serve the hegemony of that country.”
“But that country itself is the author and executor of the world’s largest monitoring, spying and surveillance programme, and the evidence of its activities has been well-documented,” the spokesperson said.
It is believed the spokesperson was referring to the United States.
“We hope and trust that the New Zealand media, public and government authorities will make independent judgement based on the merits of the matter and the interests of New Zealand, and create an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment, and thus a level playing field for companies, technologies and products from different countries,” the statement said.
The US Government said in November that it was banning telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from several prominent Chinese brands, including Hikvision and Dahua, in an effort to protect the nation’s communications network. Security cameras made by Hikvision were also banned from British government buildings in November.
Andrew Little, the minister responsible for the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau, had previously indicated that the likelihood of discovering the cameras in New Zealand government buildings was “very low”. Nearly 1000 Chinese-made cameras and other recording devices were found to have been installed across 250 different Australian government building sites.
New Zealand Security Intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau Minister Andrew Little. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Following Newstalk ZB’s investigation, Little maintained he was satisfied that there was “good compliance” with mandatory security requirements.
Dahua cameras have also been found as part of a member of Parliament’s home security system.
Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said neither Hikvision nor Dahua cameras had been provided to any MP.
“However, one member previously had Dahua cameras installed in their home,” he said. “For privacy reasons, we will not be naming this member.”
Newstalk ZB understands the person is not a Cabinet minister.
National Party MP Simon O’Connor, who is also the New Zealand co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), said it would be “relatively simple” to order an audit of Dahua and Hikvision cameras across New Zealand’s government departments.
“There are questions about these cameras . . . both issues of security, and some moral elements too”, he said.
“I just don’t see why New Zealand needs to expose itself . . . we have other options, it’s a no-brainer to me that we should go and use them.”
The Department of Conservation, Oranga Tamariki, Ministry of Social Development and the New Zealand Police have all confirmed they use the Hikvision cameras.
“We have protective security requirements - departments know that. It’ll be for them to ascertain whether they think there is any undue risk,” Little said.
Both the National and Act parties have called for an audit of the number of public buildings with the cameras installed.
“Well, you really want to do a good audit, understand where they are, how they’re connected,” National leader Christopher Luxon said. “Then you want to do a risk assessment as to does that expose us to any vulnerabilities - and then we’d look to replace them.”
