Surveillance for sale:
China’s authoritarian tech exports
Across the Indo-Pacific, Chinese surveillance technologies are reshaping domestic security landscapes by undermining democratic norms, empowering authoritarian tendencies, and expanding Beijing’s strategic footprint. Branded as ‘safe cities’ or ‘smart policing’, these tools offer more than public safety: they export a model of digital authoritarianism. This has generated China’s state-driven ‘surveillance capitalism’, where companies sell AI surveillance products to neighbours marketed under the opaque banners of ‘smart policing’ or ‘safe cities’. These products are often sold as turnkey solutions at competitive prices, appealing to governments grappling with crime or political instability.
China’s dominance in surveillance capitalism stems from the comparative advantage of an authoritarian regime that permits surveillance experimentation on vulnerable groups with minimal legal restraint. The Joint Operations Platform, which integrates biological, online and social data in Xinjiang, has become a global model for integrated policing. As a result, Chinese firms now dwarf Western counterparts in the export of surveillance infrastructure.
Chinese firms like Huawei and Hikvision have supplied integrated surveillance systems to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. These products combine facial recognition, predictive policing, and real-time geographic and online monitoring tools to collect data. These technologies enable governments to monitor opposition activity, suppress dissent, and track ethnic or religious minorities often without the legal safeguards of a warrant or judicial oversight. This draconian digital governance can erode institutional norms and democratic freedoms.
Additionally, Chinese security technology can present an ongoing threat to countries’ information networks and create dormant vulnerabilities waiting to be exploited. Last year, South Korea’s military was forced to remove over 1,300 Hikvision surveillance cameras after discovering they could transmit footage to a Chinese server.
The exportation of surveillance infrastructure threatens security, human rights and harms the region’s shared values with Australia and the rules-based order. Additionally, countries with weaker democratic health are more likely to engage in further security development with Beijing, enabling a vicious cycle.
As Indo-Pacific nations upscale their security by adopting this technology, Australia must protect civil freedoms by drawing a line between AI-enabled mass data collection and existing legislated public safety infrastructure. The spread of enhanced authoritarian surveillance technology in the Indo-Pacific threatens Australia’s regional interests and the rights of millions.
Canberra must continue to bolster its own sovereign digital infrastructure and work with capable allies like the US and India to offer alternatives and replacements to countries that might otherwise turn to China for surveillance tools. Building on initiatives like the Pacific Policing Initiative and the India-Australia Digital Public Infrastructure partnership, Australia should collaborate to provide secure public safety infrastructure which respects civil liberties. This includes not only hardware and software, but also funding, training, and policy guidance grounded in democratic values.
Australia can seek to balance China’s growing influence while respecting the agency of regional partners by exporting a law-abiding model of surveillance. This model should balance privacy with public safety and offer transparent, accountable alternatives. Australia must also urge the United States to reverse recent decisions to defund the initiatives such as the Voice of America and the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which play key roles in countering authoritarian narratives in the Indo-Pacific. Framing alternative surveillance infrastructure efforts as part of a strategy to oppose China’s security expansion and erosion of democratic values could complement Washington’s broader focus on strategic competition.
A stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific depends on upholding human rights and digital freedoms. As surveillance technologies reshape governance across the region, Australia must step up in its promotion of transparent, rights-respecting alternatives that reinforce democratic norms. By increasing investment in secure infrastructure, principled partnerships, and narrative-shaping institutions, Canberra can help shape a digital future grounded in law, oversight, and liberty.