{"id":400308,"date":"2026-01-31T09:03:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T09:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/400308\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T09:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T09:03:07","slug":"alarm-raised-over-chinese-cctv-cameras-guarding-symbol-of-democracy-magna-carta-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/400308\/","title":{"rendered":"Alarm raised over Chinese CCTV cameras guarding \u2018symbol of democracy\u2019 Magna Carta | China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Security cameras guarding Magna Carta<\/a> are provided by a Chinese CCTV company whose technology has allegedly aided the Uyghur \u201cgenocide\u201d and been exploited by Russia during the invasion of Ukraine, it has emerged.<\/p>\n

In letters seen by the Guardian, campaigners called on Salisbury Cathedral, which houses one of four surviving copies of the \u201cpowerful symbol of social justice\u201d, to rip out cameras made by Dahua Technology, based in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.<\/p>\n

They have also written to the authorities responsible for the Parthenon temple in Greece, which is monitored by cameras produced by another Chinese company, Hikvision.<\/p>\n

Cameras made by the firms have already been removed from \u201csensitive\u201d UK government sites, over concerns that they could be remotely accessed by China and used to spy<\/a> on sensitive sites.<\/p>\n

Now fresh concerns about the two companies\u2019 roles at sites housing foundational symbols of democracy and human rights have been raised by the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and a Ukrainian organisation called Don\u2019t Fund Russian Army.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Dahua Technology boasts on its website that its low-light surveillance cameras help ensure the safety of a copy of Magna Carta, sealed by King John at Runnymede, England, in 1215.<\/p>\n

The document established limitations on feudal powers and is widely seen as a precursor to later formulations laying down democratic values and human rights protections.<\/p>\n

Salisbury Cathedral\u2019s website calls the 810-year-old document a \u201cpowerful symbol of social justice\u201d that has \u201cinspired and encouraged freedom movements around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

But in a letter that has emerged during Keir Starmer\u2019s visit to China<\/a>, the WUC said Dahua was implicated in \u201cgenocide or crimes against humanity\u201d.<\/p>\n

The organisation, which represents the persecuted minority ethnic group from China\u2019s Xinjiang region, cited the company\u2019s alleged involvement in facial recognition systems<\/a> designed to identify Uyghurs and automate police reporting.<\/p>\n

The WUC said Dahua\u2019s CCTV systems had \u201cplayed a role in control and surveillance mechanisms\u201d in Xinjiang designed to persecute the primarily Muslim group.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, it is particularly painful that the technologies of such companies are being used to protect one of the most prominent symbols of democracy and freedom,\u201d the WUC wrote, in a letter emailed to the cathedral\u2019s head of security.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the cathedral said it had not received the email, sent to its head of security. The Guardian has seen evidence that appears to show that the email was sent on 22 December.<\/p>\n

The cathedral spokesperson added: \u201cWe also do not comment on security matters; however, our systems and suppliers are regularly reviewed, working with external advisers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dahua\u2019s technology was installed by a UK security firm, ARC Fire Safety & Security, according to the Chinese company\u2019s website. The UK company did not return a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The WUC raised the same concerns in an email to authorities in charge of the Parthenon temple in Greece, which uses cameras made by Hikvision, urging it to remove the CCTV.<\/p>\n

It called for the technology to be removed at both sites.<\/p>\n

The WUC, which operates from Munich, Germany, also pointed to reports that the companies\u2019 cameras have systemic vulnerabilities that allowed them to be hacked by Russia in reconnaissance during the invasion of Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Oleksii Kuprienko, of the Ukrainian organisation Don\u2019t Fund Russian Army, said there had been several incidents where footage from surveillance cameras appeared to have been accessed \u2013 and even broadcast online \u2013 during Russian missile strikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch footage can be used to analyse the effectiveness of strikes and, at the same time, to intimidate civilians by openly showing the power of Russian weapons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kuprienko referred to an incident in early 2024 when footage from a camera believed to have been made by Hikvision broadcast the operation of a Ukrainian air defence system. \u201cShortly afterwards, that position was struck,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A Ukrainian MP, Grigory Mamka, who sits on a parliamentary committee scrutinising law enforcement, confirmed that cameras made by Dahua and Hikvision were being removed.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The security services] established that entrance codes were hacked and connection was made to equipment installed by these two companies,\u201d Mamka said, in an interview mediated by a translator.<\/p>\n

Mamka said security services identified in 2024 that the cameras had been hacked, apparently by the Russian army, to spy on defensive positions.<\/p>\n

Footage of missile strikes, apparently from CCTV cameras, has also appeared on video streaming sites, which Kuprienko said was part of Russian psychological warfare, designed to intimidate Ukrainian civilians.<\/p>\n

Hikvision and Dahua did not return requests for comment.<\/p>\n

An email to a representative of the authority responsible for stewardship of the Parthenon went unanswered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Security cameras guarding Magna Carta are provided by a Chinese CCTV company whose technology has allegedly aided the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-400308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}