Latest news with #HikvisionCanada
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Chinese spy tech giant fights back as Canada kicks out Hikvision over national security concerns
Chinese technology company Hikvision is challenging the Canadian government's decision to shut down its operations, filing a notice for judicial review after Ottawa declared the firm a national security threat. The federal government ordered Hikvision Canada to cease all operations and exit the country on June 27, following a national security review under the Investment Canada Act. The review's findings were not publicly detailed, but Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said the decision was based on assessments from Canada's security and intelligence agencies. In a statement released Monday, Hikvision confirmed it submitted a legal application to the Attorney General of Canada, calling the government's move unjustified. 'Hikvision Canada did so to vigorously challenge the Order and to uphold what we believe is right,' the company said. 'Through Canada's legal system, we expect a fair process.' The company also announced that it reached an agreement with the Attorney General to pause enforcement of the shutdown while the court considers its request for a judicial review. Live Events 'Since entering the Canadian market, we have followed all applicable laws and regulations, and will continue to defend our position that Hikvision products and technology have not endangered the national security of Canada or any other country in which we operate,' the statement added. The Chinese embassy in Ottawa has urged Canada to reverse the decision, saying it amounts to discrimination against a Chinese firm. This isn't the first time Hikvision has faced global scrutiny. The US Federal Communications Commission in 2022 banned the sale or import of new Hikvision equipment, citing national security risks. The US Department of Defense has also linked the company to China's military. Human rights groups have long accused Hikvision of supplying surveillance systems used in the repression of Uyghur Muslims in China's Xinjiang region. A 2023 report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project said the company helped operate mass surveillance infrastructure near detention camps, schools, and mosques. Hikvision, which operates in more than 180 countries, is a subsidiary of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, a state-owned enterprise. The court's decision could have broader implications for foreign tech firms operating in Canada, as well as for the country's future national security policies concerning Chinese technology. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
CTV News
07-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Chinese surveillance company Hikvision seeks to overturn ban in Canada
A Chinese flag hangs near a Hikvision security camera outside of a shop in Beijing on Oct. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Chinese tech behemoth Hikvision, one of the world's largest video surveillance camera manufacturing companies, is seeking to overturn the federal government's decision last month to ban the company from operating in Canada. Ottawa ordered Hikvision Canada to cease all operations and close its Canadian business at the end of June after a national security review determined allowing the surveillance technology company to continue its operations would threaten national security. In a statement released Monday, the company announced it has submitted to the Attorney General of Canada a notice of application for a judicial review of the June 27 Canadian government order. 'Hikvision Canada did so to vigorously challenge the Order and to uphold what we believe is right,' reads the statement. 'Through Canada's legal system, we expect a fair process.' The company said it is asking the federal court to pause the government order until its application for a judicial review is adjudicated, and that the company has reached an agreement with the Attorney General to resume normal operations until the court has ruled on the requested pause. 'Since entering the Canadian market, we have followed all applicable laws and regulations, and will continue to defend our position that Hikvision products and technology have not endangered the national security of Canada or any other country in which we operate,' reads the statement. Canada is not the first country to take aim at Hikvision's operations. In 2022, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission barred the sale or import of new equipment made by Hikvision, citing 'an unacceptable risk' to national security. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who announced the initial Hikvision ban in June, did not provide a specific reason. 'This determination is the result of a multi-step review that assessed information and evidence provided by Canada's security and intelligence community,' Joly said in a statement announcing the ban. In January, the U.S. defence department identified Hikvision as having links to the Chinese military, and the company is a subsidiary of the state-owned firm China Electronics Technology Group Corporation. Hikvision has been identified in multiple reports as having links to the Chinese government's mass repression campaign against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in Xinjiang. 'The company took lucrative contracts with the government in the Uyghur Region to supply, develop, and directly operate mass surveillance systems, including those equipped with facial recognition capabilities. Hikvision's networks are installed in and around internment camps, schools, and mosques in the Uyghur Region,' reads a 2023 report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project. 'Research has shown that police across the Uyghur Region use Hikvision's surveillance cameras and software identifying and targeting Uyghurs as part of a mass surveillance and predictive policing system,' adds the report. Hikvision operates worldwide and the company says it provides products and services to more than 180 countries and regions.
Reuters
07-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
China's Hikvision says it is challenging Canada's shut down order
SHANGHAI, July 7 (Reuters) - Chinese surveillance camera manufacturer Hikvision ( opens new tab said on Monday it was challenging an order the Canadian government issued last month that required it to cease operations in Canada. The company said its Canadian unit had filed a notice of application in federal court seeking a judicial review of the June 27 decision and concurrently was asking the court not to enforce the order until its application was decided. Hikvision, also known as Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co, resumed normal operations on Monday following an agreement with Canada's attorney general that allowed it to do so until the court decided on its motion for a stay, it added. "Through Canada's legal system, we expect a fair process," the company said in a statement. Hikvision declined to provide a copy of the notice of application. Canada's Industry Minister Melanie Joly said at the time that the decision was taken after a multi-step review of information provided by Canada's security and intelligence community determined that Hikvision's continued operations in Canada would threaten the country's national security. Their statement did not specify how Hikvision would harm Canada's national security. Hikvision has faced numerous sanctions and restrictions by Canada's neighbor, the United States, over the past five-and-a-half years for the firm's dealings and the use of its equipment in China's Xinjiang region, where rights groups have documented abuses against the minority Uyghur population and other Muslim communities. The company, which describes itself as the world's biggest maker of video surveillance equipment, said last year it had exited contracts in Xinjiang through five subsidiaries that were added to a U.S. trade blacklist in 2023. The Chinese government has denied all allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and has criticized or targeted companies for removing Xinjiang firms from their supply chains. The Chinese foreign ministry said in late June it strongly opposed Canada's move and that it had lodged stern representations with the Canadian side. Canada said last year it was reviewing an application to impose sanctions against Chinese surveillance equipment companies, including Hikvision, after rights advocates alleged the firms were aiding repression and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang.
Al Jazeera
30-06-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
China claims Canada's order for Hikvision closure ‘damages' trade relations
Canada's request for Chinese surveillance equipment firm Hikvision to close local operations will 'damage' bilateral trade, complicating recent efforts to improve ties between the countries, China's Ministry of Commerce has said. Beijing's remarks came on Monday after Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly announced last week on the social media platform X that Hikvision Canada Inc had been ordered to cease all operations due to concerns their continuation would be 'injurious' to the country's security. Her statement on Friday did not provide details on the alleged threat posed by Hikvision products, but said departments and agencies would be prohibited from using them, and that the government is 'conducting a review of existing properties to ensure that legacy Hikvision products are not used going forward'. China's Commerce Ministry responded by accusing Ottawa of 'over-generalising national security', stating: 'China is strongly dissatisfied.' 'This not only undermines the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and affects the confidence of companies from both countries in cooperation, but also disrupts and damages the normal economic and trade cooperation between China and Canada,' the statement read. 'China urges Canada to immediately correct its wrong practices,' it added. Hangzhou-based Hikvision is one of the world's leading manufacturers of security cameras and other surveillance products, but it has faced scrutiny abroad for its role in Beijing's alleged rights abuses against the Muslim minority Uighur population. The United States included Hikvision in a 2019 blacklist of Chinese entities it said were implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China's campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. The latest disagreement represents an early test for China-Canada relations after Prime Minister Mark Carney surged to electoral victory in April. China said in response to the election result that Beijing was willing to improve ties with Ottawa, a relationship rocked in recent years by a range of thorny issues. The arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive on a US warrant in Vancouver in December 2018 and Beijing's retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges plunged relations into a deep freeze. Ties were further strained over allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021, charges Beijing has denied. Joly had said the decision to ban Hikvision had been reached following a 'multi-step review' of information provided by the Canadian security and intelligence community.
Business Times
30-06-2025
- Business
- Business Times
China urges Canada to ‘correct wrongdoing' over Hikvision shutdown
[BEIJING] China's commerce ministry on Monday (Jun 30) urged Canada to 'immediately correct its wrongdoings' after Ottawa ordered the Chinese surveillance camera manufacturer Hikvision to cease operation in the country, citing national security concerns. In a statement published on its website, the Chinese ministry vowed to take the 'necessary measures' to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses. 'The government has determined that Hikvision Canada's continued operations in Canada would be injurious to Canada's national security,' Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly said on X, adding the decision was taken after a multi-step review of information provided by Canada's security and intelligence community. China's foreign ministry on Monday also expressed strong opposition to Canada's move and said it has lodged stern representations with the Canadian side. The foreign ministry accused Canada of generalising the concept of national security and suppressing Chinese enterprises and urged it to provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies. Hikvision, which describes itself as the world's biggest maker of video surveillance equipment, said last year it had exited contracts in Xinjiang through five subsidiaries that were added to a US trade blacklist in 2023. Canada said last year it was reviewing an application to impose sanctions against Chinese surveillance equipment companies, including Hikvision, after rights advocates alleged the firms were aiding repression and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang. The Chinese government has denied all allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and has criticised or targeted companies for removing Xinjiang firms from their supply chains. REUTERS
