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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

US defence department adds drone maker DJI and BGI Genomics to blacklist it links to Chinese military

  • Second tranche of Chinese firms, including China State Construction Group, added to list, that aims to highlight ‘military-civil fusion strategy’,
  • Listing clears the way for Commerce Department to restrict US business transactions with the companies

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The announcement that DJI has been added to a Pentagon blacklist follows a series of US government restrictions on transactions with Chinese companies based on concerns the business ties could support PLA growth and modernisation. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Robert Delaney
The US defence department on Wednesday added Shenzhen-based DJI Technology Co, the world’s largest maker of consumer drones, to a list of Chinese companies that it deems to be connected to Beijing’s military, along with a dozen other hi-tech firms.

The move – which clears the way for the US Commerce Department to enact restrictions on US business transactions with the companies, including investments – follows the publication of an initial blacklist last year. The list was required by last year’s National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), annual must-pass legislation that guides funding for the US military.

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US sanctions DJI and 7 other Chinese companies over alleged Xinjiang human rights abuses

US sanctions DJI and 7 other Chinese companies over alleged Xinjiang human rights abuses
The Pentagon’s initial list included Huawei Technologies – which was already on the Commerce Department’s list of firms barred from acquiring US technology, also known as the Entity List – and dozens of other companies.

The second tranche also includes BGI Genomics, China’s largest genomics firm, and infrastructure giant China State Construction Group.

The Pentagon “is determined to highlight and counter the … military-civil fusion strategy, which supports the modernisation goals of the People’s Liberation Army by ensuring its access to advanced technologies and expertise are acquired and developed by PRC companies, universities and research programmes that appear to be civilian entities”, the department announced.

Wednesday’s announcement follows a series of US government restrictions on transactions with Chinese companies, based on concerns that these business ties can ultimately support the PLA’s growth and modernisation.

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