China's premier gifted Carney an 'action camera.' Security experts suggest: 'dump it'

OTTAWA — China’s second most powerful politician gifted Prime Minister Mark Carney a high-end “action camera” with a selfie stick during his visit last month. Security experts recommend Carney dump it immediately.

Carney didn’t just leave Beijing in January with the promise of lower tariffs on Chinese canola and a commitment to lower Canadian border levies on some Chinese electric vehicles.

New filings to the federal ethics commissioner reveal that the prime minister also left with an assortment of diplomatic gifts.

Though the exchanging of gifts is standard practice when political leaders meet, the filings offer some insight on what kind of items China wanted to promote to the Canadian delegation.

Of particular note: China’s Premier Li Qiang, the second highest ranking political figure in the country, gifted Carney three things: a DJI-brand Osmo action camera, a “camera rod” (otherwise known as a selfie stick) and two bottles of Chinese ice wine.

Carney left his meeting with President Xi Jinping with an olive-shaped bas-relief vase, whereas he received a painting of Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts from its president, Wang Ning.

The prime minister’s office did not immediately say if Carney kept the gifts, though they are not listed as forfeited in the commissioner’s registry.

DJI is a Chinese video giant that dominates the drone market. It’s Osmo line of handheld compact cameras is increasingly popular as a competitor to North American models such as the GoPro.

That means Chinese leaders such as Li want to promote the company’s product, and having foreign leaders seen with them is a key way to do it.

But security and privacy concerns abound concerning DJI products.

The U.S. has designated DJI as a “Chinese Military Company” and restricts use of their drones within government. Last year, the RCMP announced it was restricting the use of Chinese-made drones due to “high security risks,” Radio-Canada reported .

For all those reasons, national security experts contacted by National Post are unanimous when asked what Carney should do with the camera: ditch it.

It’s unlikely that the camera is bugged or otherwise compromised, they noted. That would likely get caught by scans of all gifts granted to the prime minister.

But a Canadian government official would not want to be seen promoting the use of a foreign product linked to so many security and privacy concerns, they noted.

“It if were me, I’d thank them politely and make sure it never gets used, or simply dispose of it,” said former national security analyst Dennis Molinaro.

“DJI is one of China’s most prominent global brands, and gifting if reinforces a soft-power narrative: Chinese technology is innovative, ubiquitous, and harmless,” added the author of Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China’s Secret War Against Canada.

“Dump it,” said Thomas Juneau, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

The message using the camera would send is “this stuff is good, and it’s reliable”, he explained. “You 100 per cent do not want to say that.”

Former National Security and Intelligence Advisor Jody Thomas also recommended “dump.”

She noted that former prime minister Justin Trudeau had also received a similar gift from the Chinese during a visit early in his tenure.

“Did not use,” she said by text message.

Federal conflict of interests rules allow politicians to receive diplomatic gifts “received as a normal expression of courtesy or protocol or that are within the customary standards that normally accompany your position.”

But they also stipulate that the gifts must be forfeited if they have a commercial value above $1,000.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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