On 16 April 2022 the Daily Telegraph reported that the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has banned the purchase of CCTV cameras manufactured by the Chinese-state controlled Hikvision.

Free Tibet had two wins in less than a week in our campaign to drive Hikvision out of the UK. Not only did the Department for Work and Pensions announce that they were putting a stop to future Hikvision purchases, but the British Security Awards also withdrew Hikvision from an award nomination.

At least 67 peers and MPs from the UK houses of parliament have backed calls by Free Tibet, Big Brother Watch and others for a complete ban on the sale and use of Hikvision equipment in the UK. Those signing in support include Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey MP, former Labour Shadow Attorney General Baroness Chami Shakrabarti and Green MP Caroline Lucas.

In its financial results for the first half of 2022, Hikvision, the Chinese state-owned surveillance company, reported a 11% decrease in net profits compared to the previous year.
The CCTV manufacturer has been avoiding questions from Free Tibet and others, but it is clear that the campaign is having an impact.

In response to Councillor Lewis Younie’s question to the Leader of the Council at the full Council meeting on 27 October, Edinburgh City Council answered: “Following completion of the public realm CCTV upgrade project, there will be no HikVision cameras present on the public realm network. The public realm project is due to be completed by February 2023.”

In response to a written question, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden MP, replied this afternoon that the government had carried out a review of “current and future possible security risks”. It had concluded that equipment from companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China must face “additional controls”.

In response to a joint letter from Free Tibet, Big Brother Watch, Hong Kong Watch, and Stop Uyghur Genocide, Tesco CEO Jason Tarry stated that as soon as he became aware of the allegations of human rights violations connected to Dahua and Hikvision, Tesco began “the process of transitioning to new suppliers.”

In response to a joint letter from Big Brother Watch, Free Tibet, Hong Kong Watch, and Stop Uyghur Genocide, the UK supermarket chain Morrisons has joined Tesco in pledging to end their use of Hikvision cameras.