US bans drone brands DJI, BGI Genomics over ties to Chinese military

The U.S. Department of Defense added Shenzhen-based consumer drone maker DJI Technologies to the list of firms allegedly connected to the Chinese military.

Last year, the Department of Defense said the systems manufactured by Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) posed a potential threat to national security. The fresh list includes Shenzhen Dn Innovation Technologies Co., Ltd. (DII) and BGI Genomics Co Ltd (BGI), China’s largest genomics firm.

The original list included Huawei Technologies and several other Chinese companies.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Defense Department said it had released the names of Chinese military companies “that are directly or indirectly working in the United States as required by section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021.”

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It said it was “determined to highlight and counter the PRC’s military-civilian fusion strategy that supports the modernization goals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by providing access to advanced technologies and expertise acquired and developed by PRC companies, universities, and research programs, which appear to be civil organizations.”

Section 1260H directs the Department to begin identifying, among other things, military-civilian fusion actors who work directly or indirectly in the United States. “The United States Government reserves the right to take additional action against these entities pursuant to authorities other than section 1260H,” the statement added.

In October last year, a commissioner of the US Federal Communications Commission warned that Chinese drone maker DJI was “collecting vast amounts of sensitive data about Americans and critical US infrastructure, potentially acting as a Huawei on wings.”

Shenzhen-based DJI has more than 50 percent of the U.S. drone market.

In May this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) added more than 80 firms to its list of likely delisting from US exchanges, including China’s JD.com, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, JinkoSolar, Pinduoduo , Bilibili, Electric manufacturer NIO Inc and NetEase.

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