Canada has just made a great step forward in minimising the security risk from China. Now Australia should step forward and propose to work with Canada to create international, harmonised arrangements to protect critical infrastructure.

Canada’s move, implemented by Industry Minister Melanie Joly on 28 June on national security grounds, was to direct Chinese surveillance camera maker Hikvision to cease operations in Canada. This commendable action should now be a basis for collective security effort across the Five Eyes, Quad, G7 and NATO.

Democracies should make national decisions, but in protecting critical infrastructure they’ll do better by adopting common, easily understood default rules. Reactive, case-by-case assessments of companies and projects are costly, promote confusion and might not be launched before harm is done.

Australia previously led the world in addressing risks posed by high-risk vendors—from full prohibition of Huawei in our 5G ecosystem in 2018 to bans on government officials’ use of Hikvision equipment in early 2023 and DeepSeek’s AI in 2025.

Canada’s decision presents an opportunity for Australia to lead again, but this time in partnership with Canada and focused on protection of critical infrastructure. The two countries should propose that all members of the Five Eyes establish a default policy excluding high-risk vendors or suppliers of concern.

Joly’s decision, taken under the Investment Canada Act after a ‘multi-step review’ of information from Canada’s security and intelligence community, forces Hikvision out of the Canadian market. It also prohibits further federal purchases of Hikvision products and launches a formal process expected to result in the removal (over time) of existing federal installations.

This goes further than policy in the United States, where the Federal Communications Commission banned authorisation of new Hikvision equipment from 2022. It also goes further than Australia’s current measures—similar to Britain’s—which are confined to removal from Defence and some sensitive government agencies. Hikvision products remain legally available for businesses and private consumers.

Australia also applied partial bans against TikTok in 2024 and DeepSeek in 2025. Some argue cases must be evaluated on individual merits. There are indeed differences between the societal backbone provided by 5G telecommunications warranting a full ban versus less intrusive technologies and platforms. But, to Beijing, any and all of these companies can be used for disruption or intelligence-gathering abroad. So we should regard them all as players on one team, all presenting risks to us. This is why we need a national technology security framework.

Technical assessments are vital, but so too is an unvarnished assessment of source country capability and intent. Since the intelligence community assesses that TikTok and Hikvision are too great a national security threat to allow near government facilities and personnel, we should be safeguarding the Australian public from them, too. Australia’s national advantage isn’t limited to government infrastructure and personnel.

The threat from TikTok, for example, is not just the oft-mentioned one of data extraction. It’s also the Chinese government’s ability to use the app to manipulate the information being pushed to our devices. By doing so, it can try to seed distrust and undermine social cohesion.

ASPI’s Defence University Tracker confirms that Hikvision is a subsidiary of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation. The group is China’s leading maker of military electronics, such as such as radars and swarming drones. It’s also a leading supplier of integrated surveillance systems linked to human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

As a Chinese company, Hikvision can be compelled to provide access to user data, security footage and networks for intelligence purposes—even where it is operating abroad. No contractual assurances or local regulation can override Hikvision’s obligation to cooperate with Beijing.

Canada is often stereotyped as too nice or consensus-oriented to take assertive measures. But it has been willing to act before. When China detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for nearly three years in an act of hostage diplomacy, Canada led more than 60 nations on a declaration against arbitrary detention. China had been trying to force the release of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wenzhou. Canada’s handling of her case was itself a demonstration of its will and commitment to the rule of law over political expediency.

Australia backed Canada on arbitrary detention and can lean in with it again by proposing the default policy for the Five Eyes. This would prohibit suppliers of concern from infrastructure that a member’s national government assesses as critical to society and security. After the policy was established in the Five Eyes, it could be promoted to the Quad, NATO and the G7 and so become global.

Suppliers under the control or legal compulsion of a foreign state would be ineligible to supply products, services or maintenance to systems and platforms designated as critical infrastructure or sensitive government assets. Only proof of insulation from foreign control would exempt such a company from the ineligibility.

This policy would apply regardless of contractual assurances, use of local subsidiaries or other risk-mitigation measures. None is enough to inspire confidence.

With such a common trusted vendor baseline, there would be little inconsistency across jurisdictions. Procurement decisions could therefore be faster. Supply chains would be securer. And the diplomatic blowback from suspect companies’ countries of origin would be reduced. China, for example, couldn’t strongly punish every country in a large group acting together.

Canada’s move is a necessary one, but Ottawa and its democratic allies must leverage national will into international action by trusted governments. As a country that has much experience in this field, Australia should again push to the fore, this time with Canada, and bind a collective around a set of principles that will make us all stronger.