REUTERS
LONDON, UK 鈥� Britain expects to have removed Chinese-made surveillance technology from sensitive sites by April 2025, as it seeks to tighten security amid increasing concerns about Beijing鈥檚 spying activities, the British government said on Monday.
Anxiety has mounted across Europe about China鈥檚 alleged espionage activity. British police last week charged two men with spying for China, including one reported to have worked as a researcher in Britain鈥檚 parliament for a prominent lawmaker.
In November 2022, the British government said that visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to China鈥檚 National Intelligence Law should not be used at sensitive sites such as government buildings and military bases.
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Security cam ban
Lawmakers have also 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.
The government said it had found that the vast majority of sensitive sites had never deployed the equipment. Of the small number of sites that did have it, about 50 percent had since replaced it, and progress was being made for removal of the rest.
鈥淲ork is pressing ahead to remove remaining devices, with approximately 70 percent of sites expected to have their surveillance equipment removed by October this year, and all remaining sites on track for complete replacement no later than April 2025,鈥� junior minister Alex Burghart said in the statement.
Earlier warning
Britain warned six months ago that Chinese spies were targeting British officials in sensitive positions in politics, defense and business as part of an increasingly sophisticated spying operation to gain access to secrets.
鈥淭he government takes the security of the UK鈥檚 citizens, systems and establishments extremely seriously and we have a range of measures in place to scrutinize the integrity of our arrangements,鈥� the statement added. 鈥搁贰鲍罢贰搁厂