IPVM Implements A 'Not Made In PRC China' Policy
By John Honovich, Published Oct 07, 2021, 10:00am EDTIPVM is proud to implement a "not made in PRC China" policy. Watch this short video to learn more:
The China Communist Party, an authoritarian regime, intends to undermine the core freedoms of liberal democracy, including freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
The PRC's widespread human rights abuses and campaign of repression against anyone who exposes and questions their abuses is deeply unethical.
The PRC has blocked a vast number of websites, including the BBC, the NY Times, the WSJ, and IPVM. The PRC hopes no one will push back and aims to make the rest of the world dependent on their production.
As a company, IPVM has implemented a policy against purchasing goods made in the PRC, including Apple products. IPVM will not purchase iPhones, MacBooks, etc. until and unless these devices are made outside of the PRC.
And no IPVM spending on computers and electronics, etc., with the exception of items priced at $50 or less.
We will continue to buy PRC-made products, as appropriate, and test them objectively. However, for any PRC-made product IPVM buys for testing, we will donate 10% of the purchase price to human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, which the PRC has unjustly sanctioned over the organization's work to expose abuses globally.
Alone, our modest amount of spending will not make much of a difference. However, this is the right thing to do and we hope to be an example for other organizations to do the ethical thing and refuse to buy products made in the PRC.
Comments (130)
Good for you! The PRC also unfairly subsidizes PRC based companies, restricts foreign company activity within the PRC and arbitrarily jails foreign employees to use as bargaining chips when a PRC executive is caught breaking US law.
You had me until you said no iPhones. I will just pay the 10% to the charity to keep mine. Lol
Voting with our wallets to effect change?
Truly the American way.
Bravo John.
Good start to an effort that needs much more publicity and awareness so others can follow this campaign/initiative started by IPVM.
Will IPVM create a database that Integrators, Manufacturers and all kinds of End Users can reference to check for PRC involvement in the manufacturing or profiting aspect of products in the market?
This is an excellent step in the right direction. More of us need to step up and make a stand and an example like this. Our company has had a unpublished policy like this for almost a decade. But its really difficult to avoid PRC products entirely. Perhaps its time for companies like ours to adopt a similar policy.
I recognize this would be outside the scope of your daily business, but I would love for you guys to review the non-prc phones and tablets your team is using.
OMG, whatever you do, don’t do that! John would get so distracted by the sorry state of security of the Android apps and phone vulnerabilities that he’d forget his entire beat-up strategy for Hikuawei!!
This company seems interesting: Purism
Librem 5 USA (SmartPhone)
From: $1,999.00 Steep price. App support is a concern.
What brand PCs and servers, monitors, mice, printers, etc. are you using for testing recording, editing, etc?
Most hardware is made in China. If you google non-china laptop, you get crap results. They tell you where ASUS or Apple or Dell is headquartered in, but their hardware is all still made in China, not to mention most of the components are also made in China.
I visited ADI last week and noticed Turing products on the shelf, so I thought I'd look them up on IPVM. Now, the first thing I want to know is, where it's made. I don't see how anything in the PRC can really be NDAA compliant.
I might be mistaken but I believe NDAA forbids products/chipsets from specific companies. So as long as the Turing cameras don't use Hisilicon chips, they could be NDAA compliant? When it comes to TAA, then yes, those cameras would not be compliant.
Yes, I understand that the Hisilicon and Hauwei chips are the main issue when discussing NDAA. However, as that issue is addressed in the USA, I think the PRC would realize they need to branch out, find other ways to accomplish their "goals", and what better way to do it than by targeting companies currently manufacturing in China. How difficult would it be for the PRC to make inroads into those manufacturers who are in China, who are not currently banned under the NDAA? Would these smaller China manufacturers be the next to be controlled by the PRC? I'm not so quick to start using another China manufacturer, who are now considered NDAA compliant, only to discover in a few short years that they're no longer NDAA compliant. I think it's better to stay completely away.
You ask this like they haven't already done all that at pretty much every single company that manufactures anything and everything in China. The government may not outright own it but they control it all.
Ross is correct I believe you cannot start or own a company in PRC without the Chinese government being a 51% stakeholder. I can't tell you that this a fact, but I remember seeing that discussion about GM and other US car mfg's. Operating in China.
Close- every company in China is required to have a member of the Chinese Communist Party on their board (Source: "Stealth War" a book by Brigadier General Robert Spaulding, US Air Force, Retired)
Highly recommended reading, you can finish it in a weekend. China is far worse than you think.
IPVMU Certified | | 10/08/21 12:08am
You cannot register a PRC company without a Chinese citizen / entity owning 51% of said company. They only insert a communist party "advisor" once you are big enough. There are plenty of small companies in the PRC that the communist party won't bother with due to their size, but they do send party members to monitor / extort you for bribes frequently.
This is based on first hand knowledge, my mom used to have a company in the PRC, then she got smart and GTFO.
The 51% applies NOT to the Chinese government but to the Chinese citizens. Most countries and probably all developing countries around the world have a similar requirement to keep legal and tax liabilities with somebody local.
old stuff. It has been changed since 2019/20. No 51-49 rule any more.
I'm not that naive to believe that the PRC hasn't planned, long ago, to cajole or already implemented action to have "compliant NDAA" manufacturers, in China, get onboard with their "technology." Or, that the PRC hasn't thought of ways to accomplish "their goals" by manufacturing in other countries, under different names, to side step NDAA. Also, manufacturers outside of China have products that are both compliant and non-compliant NDAA, so the relationship has been there for awhile, is there now, and might continue to be there in the future. So, the first step is to avoid all manufacturers in China.
Just so you know the USA’s NSA and CIA has been busted doctoring HDD and reprogramming firmware in American network switch brands - something you think is bad for CN to do, but is it ok for the USA TLA’s?
btw the purpose of the NSA doing this was explicitly for spying!
(Read the Snowden disclosures for more astonishing details!)
I do not think I have ever heard or read somebody say what the NSA/CIA did was ok. It also does not excuse anything CN does or anybody else for that matter.
Cisco routers too. This whole China paranoia is a joke when we're literally doing the exact same things here. Honestly at this point I just don't care. The US is constantly saying other nations are doing this or that to us, and more often than not it ends up being false anyway. I remember the supposed WMDs in Iraq, not falling for the lies any more.
This whole China paranoia is a joke when we're literally doing the exact same things here
The USA does nothing close to what the PRC does. The USA needs to do a better job of educating Americans on what the PRC is doing.
For example, J. Edgar Hoover and civil rights abuses in the 1960s were terrible, certainly. At the same time, the PRC murdered and tortured millions in the Cultural Revolution.
There's "cancel culture" in the US but the PRC's mass censorship is on a completely another planet compared to any issues in the US.
There's corruption in the US but it's nothing like the mass systematic corruption in the PRC, read the recent book Red Roulette for a first-hand perspective. The author's wife was kidnapped years ago, never charged, just held hostage.
Speaking of hostages, the 2 Canadians held hostage in retaliation for Huawei's CFO and the 2 American citizens held hostage because the PRC was after their parents.
I'd strongly encourage you to better research the depths of horrific abuses the CPC engages in and you will better understand why there is so much concern for supporting them. Does that help?
The author's wife was kidnapped years ago, never charged, just held hostage.
How many prisoners not charged with crimes still in Gitmo?
Sorry, there is no difference.
39, according to Wikipedia. Compare that to Xinjiang.
Also, compare that to the very vocal opposition of America's ACLU to Gitmo. And compare to a current Supreme Court case of a prisoner there.
The PRC differs both in terms of the vast scale of abuses they engage in and in their punishment of those who oppose or fight against their abuses.
I disagree but there's probably no point in continuing since your mind is obviously made up, as is mine.
One question though - given the great amount of resources that IPVM obviously expends towards reports on Xinjiang and manufacturers of cameras used there, when can we expect a report on who manufactured the CCTV equipment in the US's migrant concentration camps where documented forced sterilizations were occurring as recently as September of 2020?
This forum is not going to resolve the injustice, prejudice, or abusive behavior of the world, and for each historical account of wrong doing that may be brought to light, there are always at least two or more opposing perspectives. With so much misinformation each individual has to do there best to sort through the smoke and mirrors, seek out the truth, and then decide for themselves what to believe. Fortunately there is an abundance of information, including no denial of such activity, only righteous indignation that someone would think it was their business to discuss the subject. How dare they take moral high ground when they have dirt or blood on their own hands. There is not doubt that no country in the world, or it’s government is able to say they have not participated in something that was not OK.
Countries and governments and groups of individuals consist of people, and people do things individually that their group may or may not be aware of. It happens, it has happened, and it will continue to happen. One wrong does not justify another.
Everyone does not agree on what is right or wrong. A thief might thing it is ok or right for him to take something he needs from someone else who has it. For the thief it justified, so perhaps not even wrong. For the victim of the crime it would most likely not be ok.
From the point of view of the victims, and most of the worlds population, violations of human rights, including privacy rights, are wrong. This same majority of our fellow human beings in this world would agree that wherever these things happen, they need to be addressed and if possible, fully eliminated. For this to happen, it has to be a cooperative effort. We are individuals living within different countries, with different governments, and different rules by which each operate. So we each have to find our own way to respond or deal with these issues as we become aware of them.
Although not for everyone, each person, company, or organization may carefully choose where and how to invest our money. This choice might exempt financially supporting in any way, those who contribute to, benefit by, or participate in activities we feel are unjust or unfair. Our money, our choice. While it may have little or no impact, it feels better.
In Free economic systems we can unify our position by voting with our money as well as at the polls. It seems you are very passionate about abuses and human rights violations, perhaps you may choose to do the same.
Hi, thanks for your comment - I'll try and clear this up. The reason we report this much on Xinjiang is that most large PRC video surveillance manufacturers are directly involved in the repression of Uyghurs across China (PRC) and the construction of Xinjiang's surveillance state.
A popular misconception is that IPVM unfairly singles them out even though they are 'just selling cameras' and aren't really involved in the installation and operation of rights-abusing projects. This is false: as IPVM has detailed, the Xinjiang police projects are directly won by Hikvision and Dahua who are contracted to build and operate them. See this example of Hikvision's Pishan county project which includes systems for a re-education camp:
This is why the Norwegian government's Council on Ethics found Hikvision's rights abuses to be "ongoing" and the UK government's Surveillance Camera Commissioner says these projects "connotes" that Hikvision is "actively and willingly working" in what is "very clearly a joint enterprise arrangement".
IPVM's Xinjiang reporting does not mean there are no human rights abuses in US video surveillance or US migrant camps. However, we have not found evidence of large video surveillance manufacturers (US or otherwise) being directly contracted to not only build but also operate wide-ranging surveillance systems in migrant camps.
If you have evidence of this though, I would consider it newsworthy so please feel free to email me anytime at charles@ipvm.com
When it comes to forced sterilization, that is indeed horrific and the FBI is reportedly investigating the Georgia doctor accused of this.
John, are you aware of the New York company called Clearview.AI, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/technology/clearview-privacy-facial-recognition.html, used by hundreds of law enforcement (and also not law enforcement, such as TSA) agencies, domestic and international? Likely used by secret services of foreign powers too, as long as they pay $100/ month (or whatever it is), as it's an unregulated commercial entity. You don't need millions of video cameras for comprehensive surveillance in the American population - tapping into Facebook/ Instagram/ LI/ etc. accounts is much more cost efficient, and everybody has multiple accounts in those. You don't need to investigate grainy video pictures to locate accomplices - just look at Facebook "friends". A simple click of a button!
Good effort, great symbolic value. Of course it is a small step, but it is still a small step in the right direction. Cudos!
John,
Thank you for your stand. If our entire industry made a similar stand it would be felt by the PRC.
10/07/21 06:06pm
I love this idea!
Avoiding PRC products will be difficult, but it's worth it. Hopefully, this movement combined with the supply-chain chaos, will force businesses to begin developing non-PRC sources regularly. Good for IPVM for taking a stand!
Laudable as a policy, now let’s see how you get on with it on a practical basis!
the $50 limit will probably cover some of the Hik products too!
10/07/21 03:31pm
I was curious about non-China products, and this site reminded me (duh!) that two leading Android phone manufacturers are made in South Korea.
| 10/07/21 03:35pm
More on Samsung:
"Samsung actually shut down its last remaining smartphone factory in China this year. As of 2019, the company is not making any phones in the People’s Republic. It previously had two factories in China but as Samsung’s market share fell below 1% in the country, it had to scale back production. It no longer makes financial sense for Samsung to manufacture phones in China. Which is why it has now stopped doing that....
"Vietnam is actually where Samsung phones are made, most of them anyway. Samsung’s manufacturing facility is located in Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen province where two factories are churning out smartphones, tablets and wearable devices. The company is in the process of adding another factory to the facility to further increase its production in the country. The existing factories produce 120 million units per year. Most of Samsung’s global supply, including for markets like North America and Europe, comes from Vietnam."
Make that one manufacturer - LG stopped making smartphones around April I think. I had both the G4 and G6 and they never were quite as good as their direct competitors, but I liked them.
Some are in the middle of trying to switch to Vietnam like Samsung, at least they say they are.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/COVID-slows-Apple-and-Google-production-shift-away-from-China
Great initiative, please keep us updated with the progress and any challenges you face
You guys are announcing a cold war on China! Since pretty much everything is made in China, from socks and underwear to TVs, garage openers, doorbells, thermostats, etc., with imports increasing due to the continued local procurement chain strains, perhaps your 10% would be better spent as a flat 10% church donation. HRW does not even do much in China, Human Rights Watch - Wikipedia. Some branches of the supply chain in the physical security market, such as PCBs, cables, connectors, lenses, LCDs, plastic and metal enclosures, IR filters, power adapters, LEDs, etc., have permanently moved overseas, and we are all benefiting from that in the form of lower prices and good availability. It promotes creativity and innovation in the USA too as we have access to various packaging options of the already commoditized technology to stay competitive on the global market.
While true the US Party in charge, an authoritarian regime, also intends to undermine the core freedoms of liberal democracy, including freedom of speech and freedom of the press. That's just for starters so how far do you take it. The issue of the Hisilicon chips is a different story.
Kudos to you IPVM! If all American companies took up this type of practice, it would strengthen our economy and job market greatly. Unfortunately, for most, profits come first...
Inspirational policy, John.
Although this has been an un-official policy at my company for the last several years, there were always occasional "exceptions" and it did not extend beyond security products.
Time to make a change. No exceptions. Will this be painful? Perhaps a bit. But it will also drive creativity by my team and opportunity for non China providers
Hopefully your policy inspires others to do the same. Based upon this chain of comments, many already have a policy and your commitment is likely to inspire others.
Well done.
Great Job IPVM. The human rights and privacy issues need to be addressed, and if only 1% of the world consumers follows your lead, it would make a big difference.
When you add to Human Rights issues the privacy and network security risks embedded into the design of PRC products and network related chipsets over the last 7 years it becomes very serious.
Risks so great that they have have resulted in bans by US, Great Britain, and other countries. Imagine how many PRC originated IOT products have been purchased and are in use throughout the world that may potential place networks, data, and personal information at risk.
These risks are not the results of mistakes or errors in software design. They are an ingeniously deliberate and often undocumented feature referred to as serialized access. Often, although the chipset has the feature, only the chipset manufacturer knows it is there. Product Manufacturers needing network connectivity have used the chips in all kinds of products because they are feature rich. As another incentive, because the manufacturers are PRC partially owned, as well as subsidized, subsidized, their products are sold for less than other chipset manufacturers products. It has been a successful business plan for the PRC, resulting in their chipsets being used by over 70% of world manufacturers.
This affects the privacy of the world community, including over a billion Chinese around the world. It is important to remember, it is not the people of China, but the PRC government that is responsible. And while the PRC has over 1,000,000 party members, there are a 1000 times more Chinese around the world, and together with the world community, we are all victims of the same privacy issues.
Keep up the good work IPVM.
I applaud your efforts.
But this decision was made a long time ago—under the Reagan Administration—to outsource our labor to China so Americans could buy affordably priced goods. The fact the pendulum is swinging back is great but in 2021—when wages have stagnated—more and more people will most likely turn to even more affordable options to help accommodate their shrinking checkbook.
As a National Integrator, we are seeing NDAA Non-Compliant products everywhere in the field. Our company has chosen and implemented "Only NDAA Compliant" products to be sold.
Why do we continue to choose to make the PRC wealthy?? PRC dominated electronic manufacturing has to stop.
Fellow security professionals please choose NDAA compliant products. Yes, you will pay a few bucks more, but I believe most customers will choose your NDAA compliant recommendations once they understand .
I applaud this decision! There was a time when I said that those who were critical of Hikua were mistaken, but I did not know then how truly uninformed I was at the time.
Thank you for taking a principled, public stand on this. History will not kindly judge those who turned a blind eye to the CCP's crimes against humanity. Nor should it, and nor should we in the present now that the world knows so many of the CCP's misdeeds.
The global death toll for COVID-19 now approaches the number of those who died in the Holocaust. #NeverForget
More Americans have died of COVID-19 than US servicemembers died in combat in WWII. Let that one sink in for a moment. #NeverForget
Please let us know the exact brands and models that you have found to be not Made In China.
In my experience, it’s very difficult to determine prior to ordering.
It should be a law for advertising.
This is an interesting policy decision, curious to see how it plays out over time.
Is your main decision criteria country of assembly, or are you looking at country of origin for majority of core components?
A bold and righteous move but I am getting some Richard Stallman-esque vibes .
Half expecting to see John running IPVM from a command line somewhere in the jungle five years from now. :D
Just kidding John. Good work!
IPVMU Certified | 10/07/21 05:50pm
We have been looking, unsuccessfully, for a US based manufacturer who is able to at least come close to the price point that we are paying the PRC factory to make the stainless steel enclosure for our video intercom system. Including air shipping, we are currently paying approximately $275 each.
If anyone wants to give it a shot, or knows someone, here is what it looks like:
y $275 each. If anyone wants to give it a shot, or k
EVS Metal in New Jersey can make it probably for around $150 (by the looks) as they have a fully automated factory, if they first help you redesign it to reduce the number of weld points (replacing with pem nuts and such) - spot welding is perhaps 10x more expensive here than in China and should be avoided. You need quantity of say 1K+, and you may wait for months due to the current labor shortages.
IPVMU Certified | | 10/08/21 01:31am
Thank you! I'll contact them immediately.
IPVMU Certified | | 10/08/21 02:27pm
For some reason I didn't see the part about the 1k+ MOQ. This, unfortunately, is a no-go for us. We only buy 25~50 pieces at a time from China and they make them for us, delivers in 30 days or sooner. Our customers may buy 10~15 Single Entry Controllers but they rarely buy more than 1~2 Video Intercoms, because most apartments and communities only has 1 or 2 designated Visitor Entrances.
IPVMU Certified | | 10/13/21 03:40pm
Well, we tried, and again failed to find a suitable replacement for the PRC.
Well, we tried, and again failed to find a suitable replacement for the PRC.
Maybe the DPRK?
IPVMU Certified | | 10/15/21 01:35am
Maybe we can get more suggestions for potential US metal enclosure fabricators for us to try?
CBC has a division/business, called Broadsight Systems that makes security enclosures in North Carolina:
There are plenty of custom metal manufacturers in the united states. We have one local, TK Metals we use for custom boxes and mounting hardware. They have a automated plasma cutter which keeps the cost down for the process.
Two additional housing companies come to mind:
Dotworkz (here is their OEM/ODM page)
While Dotworkz markets the domestic mfgr aspect prominently, Wren does not. I suspect that is because they are relabeling some of their housings and aren't 100% compliant. But I have toured their manufacturing facility and know they do a fair amount/majority in Missouri.
With regards to this:
a US based manufacturer who is able to at least come close to the price point that we are paying the PRC factory to make the stainless steel enclosure for our video intercom system.
You might try an electrical box manufacturer like Maysteel:
That price point may be too inexpensive to match, but there are many domestic options for sheet metal bending and fabrication, especially in the fence manufacturing and aviation industries. It might be worth calling some 'local to you' firms to see if there is interest in contract manufacturing for you.
We are expanding coverage in this area, and I will reach out to Broadsite and other non-China security accessory manufacturers to develop lists and profiles.
Given current focus of many is to move away from PRC sources, it is timely and valuable to survey the market for these companies. I look forward to it!
If you have a recommendation for me to contact/add to a list, please comment or email me at: brian@ipvm.com.
IPVMU Certified | | 10/16/21 02:05pm
Thank you all! I will give all of them a call. When we first started we reached out to all of the local metal fabricators. When we said we only wanted 10 boxes as a start, none of them were interested.
IPVMU Certified | | 10/16/21 06:32pm
We are not asking the US manufacturer to match the PRC price. We are asking them to come close to the PRC price + air shipping, which adds another $125 to the total cost. Almost as much as the product itself.
The PRC product only price is just $150, while we are getting quotes from local companies in the $500+ range and a 1k MOQ.
I don't know why there is such a huge price discrepancy, and how they are surviving only taking orders with a minimum amount of half a million dollars. It's as if they don't really want our business.
Unfortunately, that's the story of our lives! Add to that local labor shortages. The only reasons to stay local seem to be a) if you have the local company involved in the engineering process so they carefully optimize to their capabilities; b) you deal with bulky items like kiosks which are hard to ship; c) you don't know what you doing and keep tweaking the design and have multiple versions which are hard to manage; d) you don't like receiving WhatsApp texts late in the evening:).
IPVMU Certified | | 10/18/21 03:50pm
This is the typical response we get.
10/08/21 01:26am
John - GREAT CONFERENCE, and thanks for taking this position. All of us can make a conscious effort to seek alternatives to Made in PRC products every single day.
"If anyone wants to make a 1-3 minute statement"
I did send in an email request on Sept 30 @ 11:19am to speak, and prepared a brief statement, but... crickets. No problem. IPVM's stance is more important than my prepared statement. And the responses to your decision appear to be almost entirely positive.
A few of you were standing around near the stage, before the cocktail hour, when I gave John an in-person briefing of my PRC observations and beliefs. Everyone should become familiar with how the PRC compromises foreigners. I call it the 大陆方法 (Mainland China method).
My first thought was:
Isn’t the Doubletree’s largest shareholder a Chinese conglomerate (via Doubletree’s parent Hilton)?
My second was:
Ingram Micro is out as well.
However I am happy to report that despite Wikipedia’s stale info, that both are now fully divested from China :)
Bravo to IPVM for taking this stance!
10/09/21 01:59am
Ingram Micro was purchased from HNA by a Beverly Hills investment firm, Platinum Equity, in July, 2021:
Platinum Equity today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Ingram Micro Inc. from HNA Technology Co., Ltd, a part of HNA Group, for a total enterprise value of $7.2 billion, in a transaction that includes $5.9 billion of equity value.
Platinum Equity » News » Platinum Equity Completes Acquisition of Ingram Micro for $7.2 Billion
IPVM has been controlled by the US goverment ?
Helen, thanks for your first comment!
No, IPVM is not controlled by the US government. The ubiquitous role of the CPC / government in the lives and businesses in the PRC and now Hong Kong makes it reasonable for those from there to assume the same of the USA, but the USA is different.
For better and sometimes worse, the USA government is relatively removed from the private sector and radically so compared to the PRC.
IPVM does increasingly talk to the US (and other) governments but it is virtually always to inform them of things going on in this industry.
Two things that might help you better understand the US government. One, unlike the PRC, power is fragmented across the US government so there is no US gov entity that would try to control or order private companies like IPVM. Secondly, and perhaps more important, is the US's freedom of press and speech. If the US government was to order IPVM or any other private entity to do something, they risk us exposing it and causing a big problem for the government. In the PRC, such people would disappear.
Here is an example from a fascinating 2016 interview with the Global Times Hu Xijin:
Foreign media sometimes interpret us as China’s official newspaper. This is neither entirely wrong nor entirely right. Does the New York Times represent Barack Obama or the White House? No. Do we represent the Chinese government? No. Our relations with the foreign ministry and the national defense ministry is probably just like the New York Times’ relations with the White House and the State Council. [emphasis added]
This claim seems especially silly now since months later Trump was elected President and the NY Times fought Trump incessantly. The point is while it is understandable from a PRC perspective to think the USA operates similarly, we don't. Does that help, Helen?
I understand what you say. I don't like talking about politics here just like you will not argue with your colleague which party you support in the workplace.
IPVM is always professional in the security area. Involving politics is not a good way.
Involving politics is not a good way.
Politics involved itself in technology and video surveillance, i.e.:
I understand the desire to not be involved in politics but we don't have that choice. The only choice we have is to accept politics and human rights abuses that were brought in by the PRC or stand up to it. We have chosen the latter.
Where do you source information to get facts (proofs) about human rights abuses in China?
Please be specific.
Just curios
Thanks for your question. For PRC video surveillance human rights abuses, we chiefly rely on our own findings which are based on primary documents from the companies themselves, e.g.:
- Dahua Racist Uyghur Tracking Revealed
- Dahua Provides "Uyghur Warnings" To China Police
- Hikvision Markets Uyghur Ethnicity Analytics, Now Covers Up
- Dahua Provides "Uyghur Warnings" To China Police
- Huawei/Megvii Uyghur Alarms
Also note that the Norwegian government's Council on Ethics independently confirmed that Hikvision's human rights abuses are "ongoing".
On human rights in the PRC more generally, we closely follow reporting on China from mainstream news outlets like the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Al Jazeera, etc, eg which detail various human rights abuses:
- NYT: Absolutely No Mercy: Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims
- WSJ: China Targets Another Region in Ethnic Assimilation Campaign: Tibet
- Al Jazeera: China's 'Black Jails' Could Evade New Criminal Law
- NPR: Inside China's Crackdown On Human Rights Advocates
We also follow reports from human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International:
- HRW: Crimes Against Humanity in Xinjiang
- Amnesty International: Hong Kong National Security Law has Created A Human Rights Emergency
Finally, there's also various indices indicating the PRC's human rights poor situation:
- Reporters Without Borders ranks China (PRC) as 177th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom
- The Economist's Intelligence Unit classifies China PRC as "authoritarian" and ranks it as the 151st most democratic country in the world (out of 167 total)
- Freedom House's "Freedom In The World" ranking gives PRC 9/100 points, ranking it "Not Free" and 185 out of 195 countries
We also closely read PRC media like Xinhua, Global Times, CGTN, and others, of course. But PRC media is state-controlled and I have never seen them publish anything about China's human rights abuses.
Instead, the PRC view on human rights is clear: the PRC has its own human rights think tank called the China Society for Human Rights Studies which states in its "On the View on Human Rights with Chinese Characteristics" that economic development "underlies all the other human rights" and the best way to protect human rights is to "adhere to the leadership of the Party as always."
Contrast that to the clear principles in the UN Declaration of Human Rights:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile;
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race;
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Controlled is a bit harsh but I would say they are aligned with the US foreign policy on China. Which seek to destabilize any market that seems to be doing better than them.
As an American I can appreciate freedoms, but I realize those freedoms were paid for with blood spilled by the defenders of the United States of America. Isn't it time that our political leaders realize what IPVM has discovered, namely, that countries such as ROC are NOT America's friends and should NOT have Preferred Nation trade rights with the USA?
IPVM, I commend you on taking a stand, one that will surely bring opposition to your financial well-being in the short run, but should gives others the courage to take a stand with you! THAT is the AMERICAN WAY!
Bravo to IPVM!
Hahaha. Good for you guys. As for us we are not going to buy expensive stuff simply because America is afraid of a little competition.
I will not buy a flir thermal camera that is 3 times with zero analytics more than a dahua equipped with analytics. That does not make any economical sense. Bottom line USA is falling behind on almost everything. You look at the likes of Ebay which has been falling behind to the likes of alibaba. You look at the 5G and the telecoms industry as a whole.
The bottom line is the USA should find better ways of doing business otherwise the reality is that people are starting to wake up and realise they can get better products in other countries.
Great! Now do vaccine tyranny and civil rights abuses.
Good for you, we are trying to do the same and have a couple of customers who also feel the same about PRC products. We always look for alternatives and hope everyone else will do the same. Why support a regime that whats to cripple us!
IMO it would be interesting to chronicle the challenges in meeting this goal and the steps made to meet it. Products are so intentionally deceptive and muddled in the marketplace that I am not certain this goal is even feasible.
