SYDNEY: According to reports that cameras installed in the defense department offices were made in China and posed a security risk, the Australian government will look into the surveillance technology used there, according to Defense Minister Richard Marles on Thursday.

The checks follow a request from Britain to its government departments in November to stop putting up Chinese-linked surveillance cameras in sensitive buildings due to security concerns. Vendors and goods from several Chinese technology companies have been outlawed in some American states.

Marles stated in an interview with ABC Radio that "this is a problem" and that "we're doing an assessment of all the technology for surveillance within the defense (department) and where those particular cameras are found, they are going to be removed."

Almost 1,000 pieces of equipment manufactured by Dahua Technology Co. and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology—two partially state-owned Chinese companies—were installed in more than 250 Australian government offices, according to opposition lawmaker James Paterson.

The government was urged by Paterson, the shadow minister for cyber security and preventing foreign interference, to immediately come up with a plan to get rid of all such cameras.

Marles acknowledged the importance of the problem but added, "I don't think we should overstate it."

Hikvision claimed that portraying the company as a danger to Australia's national security was "categorically false" given that it was unable to access end-user video data, manage end-user databases, or offer cloud storage services there.

A spokesperson responded via email, saying that "our cameras are subject to strict security requirements and are compliant with all applicable Australian laws and regulations."

Requests for comments were not immediately answered by Dahua Technology.

The national war memorial in Canberra will remove several security cameras that were installed on the property and were made in China, according to Australian media on Wednesday.

In part as a result of Australia's 2018 decision to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G broadband network, Australia and China have been working to repair their diplomatic relations.

An Australian call for a separate investigation into the causes of COVID-19 later harmed relations even more.

China's response was to impose tariffs on a number of Australian goods.

Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, stated that he was not worried about how China might respond to the removal of cameras.

"We behave in a way that serves Australia's best interests." "We operate transparently, and we'll keep operating that way," Albanese told journalists.