America adds prominent Chinese businesses to list of companies it alleges ‘is aiding Chinese military’
One of Australia’s most popular electric car brands has been added to a Pentagon blacklist over its alleged ties to the Chinese military.
The updated list includes some of China’s biggest technology firms, including Baidu, Ali Baba and BYD.
BYD grew its sales in Australia by 156 per cent last year, off the back of booming demand for its electric and hybrid vehicles. AP
BYD’s Sealion 7 was the second-highest selling electric car in Australia last year.
“BYD is a military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defence industrial base because it is affiliated with MIIT (China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) and because it resides in or is affiliated with a military-civil fusion enterprise zone,” the Pentagon statement read.
nine.com.au has reached out to BYD for comment.
The Pentagon said all the companies on the list should be designated as “Chinese military companies”.
The blacklist bars the US military from making any purchases from those companies.
The move has been decried by the Chinese embassy in Washington.
“The US should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies,” a statement read.
Ali Baba, an online retailer similar to Amazon or Temu, is one of China’s largest companies and sells to customers in Australia.
But it has been included on the Pentagon list.
“Ali Baba is a military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defence industrial base because it is affiliated with MIIT,” the Pentagon said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump. Getty
But the company said in a statement there was no basis for its inclusion.
“Ali Baba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy,” the statement read.
“We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company.”
Baidu is a major technology firm built around a search engine, similar to Google in the US.
Baidu is a major search engine in China. NurPhoto via Getty Images
Also on the list was telecommunications giant Huawei and video game giant Tencent, which owns social media app WeChat.
The US House of Representatives Select Committee on China released a statement backing the move.
“These Chinese companies are working with the Chinese military against our national interests,” the statement read.
“Any of them that are publicly traded on US exchanges should be immediately delisted and their products should be removed from supply chains our country depends on.
“American companies must stop doing business with these threats to our national security, otherwise they are enabling China’s military ascendance.”
The Pentagon’s move is a provocative one so soon after Donald Trump’s visit to China last month.
Trump’s visit was strongly panned by his critics in Washington after he left without any substantial progress.
“We know Trump’s incompetent in America. He’s equally so abroad,” Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said.
“All he’s coming home with is being chastised by Xi about Taiwan.”
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