Chinese drone maker DJI sues Defense Department over inclusion in ChiCom military company list

11/04/2024 / By Ramon Tomey

Chinese drone maker DJI has sued the Department of Defense (DoD) after they included the company in its list of military companies associated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

DJI took the department to court on Oct. 18, arguing in its complaint that the designation is “arbitrary and capricious.” The Shenzhen-based drone maker said the DoD’s designation has “caused significant and ongoing harm” as reflected in canceled contracts and “pervasive stigmatization” of the company and its employees. It asked a district court in Washington to order its deletion from the list.

According to the Epoch Times, Congress passed a law in 2021 mandating the DoD to compile a list of Chinese military companies operating in the U.S. – resulting in the creation of the Communist Chinese Military Companies (CCMC) list. DJI was added to the list in October 2022, and the department renewed the designation in January of this year. The renewal came amid DJI’s 16-month endeavor seeking removal from the list as per DJI’s complaint.

The outlet noted that the drone maker’s “affordable and powerful products are popular in the U.S. among hobbyists and in sectors such as agriculture and search and rescue.” Its products make up more than half of the U.S. commercial market.

The Epoch Times reached out to the Defense Department for comment. An official responded to the news outlet in an email, saying that the DoD “does not provide information or statements regarding any pending litigation matters.”

For its part, DJI has denied all allegations against it. The company reiterated that it is “neither owned nor controlled by the Chinese military” and it does not contribute to either Beijing’s military-civil fusion strategy or the military modernization programs of the People’s Liberation Army. Moreover, it has no control over how customers use its off-the-shelf commercial products after purchase.

Aside from the DoD, the company has also been flagged by other U.S. government agencies as a national security risk and an alleged contributor to Beijing’s human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. These agencies include the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Treasury (USDT) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the Department of Justice. (Related: House committee sounds alarm on U.S. drone firm’s links to ChiCom-backed DJI.)

Other Chinese firms also challenging DoD designation

“DJI’s legal challenge against the DoD’s listing follows similar cars, including those brought by Chinese lidar maker Hesai in May and Chinese chip-making tool manufacturer Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMEC) in August,” the Epoch Times continued.

Hesai occupies more than a third of the global lidar market and almost three-quarters of the robotic cars market. Its clients include robotaxi firms such as Cruise under General Motors and Zoox under Jeff Bezos’ Amazon. Meanwhile, AMEC – whose clients include major chip factories such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. – has played a key role in Beijing’s push for supply chain independence in China’s semiconductor industry.

The three firms are not the first ones to challenge their inclusion in the CCMC list. In 2021, Chinese phone maker Xiaomi and big data company Luokung Technology Corp successfully challenged their inclusion in the list.

A week before DJI sued the DoD, the department told a district court in Washington that it removed Hesai from the list of Chinese military companies. However, the lidar company was included “on a new record based on the latest information available.”

The CCMC list has since been superseded by a wider-ranging Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies list. This new list is now overseen by the USDT, taking over the former duties of the DoD as the primary authority to manage it.

The Chinese communist regime’s military-civil fusion strategy eliminates “barriers between China’s civilian research, and commercial sectors and its military and defense industrial sectors,” according to the U.S. Department of State. It added that aside from tapping into China’s pool of talent, Beijing is also acquiring foreign technologies both legally and illegally.

Watch this video about the U.S. military blacklisting DJI, which the Chinese drone company is now challenging in court.

This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com.