US - China Review Commission Cites IPVM on Foreign Provider Threat
A bipartisan congressional commission cited IPVM twice in its analysis of how the PRC government protects its surveillance firms from foreign competition.
The US China Economic Security Review Commission's September bulletin states that China has long viewed "foreign providers as a threat":
This paragraph is based on two IPVM articles :
- China: Foreign Video Surveillance Is Security Risk, in which IPVM showed that PRC officials in 2012 called foreign surveillance providers a "risk to national security"
- In China, Foreign AI Companies Banned or Disadvantaged, Says Top China AI Company, in which IPVM showed that a top PRC facial recognition provider stated in its IPO filing that "foreign-owned entities are prohibited or disadvantaged" in City IoT projects.
One of the USCC's main takeaways is that PRC surveillance providers have risen to the top thanks to "robust government intervention" in the form of both protectionism and demand from police:
The bulletin also raises concerns about Chinese surveillance firms' surveillance of minorities (although without mentioning Hikvision and Dahua's extensive involvement in Xinjiang), stating:
Chinese firms are combining what were once isolated devices or fragmented networks into massive urban management platforms that enable China’s government to identify specific individuals, profile ethnic minorities, or track people’s movements and activities within some of the world’s largest cities.
For background, the USCC's main role is to submit an annual report to Congress about the US-China relationship and make legislative recommendations "where appropriate":
Its next annual report will be out this November.