Just seven years ago Australia led the way in countering the foreign interference and espionage risks posed by technology made in China when the Turnbull government banned Chinese-owned telco Huawei from participating in Australia’s 5G mobile network rollout. The world-first ban on using Huawei equipment was copied by other countries including the US, the UK, Canada, Japan and Germany.

Installing popular Chinese social media platform TikTok on Australian government devices was also prohibited in 2023 due to data privacy concerns. That was before the US Congress’ bipartisan 2024 bill to force the Chinese owners of TikTok to sell their app to a foreign company or otherwise be ousted from operating in America.