Chinese-made surveillance cameras are still operating at U.S. military bases and facilities across the country with only a few weeks to go until the devices are to be federally banned.
The National Defense Authorization Act, which manages the budget for the Department of Defense, added an amendment for fiscal year 2019 barring security equipment made in China from being bought by U.S. federal agencies. Chinese surveillance companies Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. were both specifically outlawed in the amendment after making headlines earlier this year over concerns of espionage.
The federal ban goes into effect on August 13.
According to the Financial Times, the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado still employs surveillance cameras made by Hikvision, which is 42% owned by the Chinese government. The base has been the headquarters of the Air Force Space Command since 1987 and is the location of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD.
The Peterson base also spent as much as $112,000 on Hikvision equipment in 2016, though a spokesperson told the Financial Times that the cameras were “not associated with base security or classified areas.” The spokesperson also said the base was prepared to remove the Chinese surveillance system.
The U.S. State Department purchased more than $20,000 of Hytera radio equipment — another NDAA-banned company — for the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala after the legislation’s passage last year. However, State Department officials said they would look into curbing the usage of Hytera radios once the bans rolled in.
Escalating tensions between the U.S. and China have worsened during the Trump administration amid concerns of spying by Chinese-made surveillance equipment.
The NDAA also prohibited U.S. companies from conducting business with the Chinese technology company Huawei, which provides microchips to U.S. security system manufacturers.
Hikvision told the Los Angeles Times in a statement that “it complies with all applicable laws and regulations and has made efforts to ensure its products are secure.”
Hikvision was the world’s largest producer of surveillance equipment from 2011 to 2017 when it had a global market share of 38%, according to a July 2018 report issued by IHS Markit.
