KEY POINTS
- The cameras were manufactured by a company that is part owned by the Chinese government.
- They are set to be removed by mid-2023.
- The Australian War Memorial chair nothing "untoward" had prompted the move.
Almost a dozen Chinese-made security cameras will be removed from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Newly appointed chair of the memorial Kim Beazley confirmed the decision on Wednesday, describing it as showing "an abundance of caution".
The cameras were manufactured by Hikvision which is a partly Chinese government-owned company and one of the largest suppliers of CCTV cameras in the world, the Canberra Times reported.
Eleven cameras made by the company will be removed from the War Memorial by mid-2023.
"It's not just in cameras … you're pretty careful now with pretty well all your electronics," Mr Beazley told media on Wednesday.
"It's not because we've had any notice of anything untoward but it's an abundance of caution."
A War Memorial spokesperson said the institution took its security obligations seriously but did not comment on specific security matters.
Australia was condemned by Beijing when it became the first country in the world to ban Chinese company Huawei from providing 5G technology for the country's wireless networks.
The move was justified as protecting national security but sparked a series of spiralling interactions between the countries that led to diplomatic shut outs and trade repercussions imposed by China.
