Pentagon labels more Chinese companies as military in nature
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Pentagon on Monday added a number of well-known Chinese businesses to a list of companies it identifies as military in nature, including some of the country’s largest internet, battery, science and shipping firms. The additions to the Defense Department’s list of “Chinese military companies" reflects its assessment that China fuses commercial and military technology.
Beijing aims “to strengthen all [China’s] instruments of national power by melding aspects of its economic, military, and social governance," as the Pentagon put it in a threat assessment published last month. The report cited efforts to harness advanced artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology and integrated circuits for military means. Among the new names on the list of more than 50 business groups plus subsidiaries are shipping and port industry giants China Overseas Shipping—or Cosco—Sinotrans & CSC Holdings, and China International Marine Containers; airplane producer Commercial Aircraft Corp.
of China, or Comac; battery behemoth Contemporary Amperex Technology, or CATL; telecommunications modular maker Quectel Wireless Solutions; facial-recognition business SenseTime Group; and WeChat owner Tencent Holdings. In a sign of investors’ attention to the list, Tencent’s U.S.-listed shares dropped almost 8% in Monday trading after the Pentagon published it. A spokesman for Tencent said its inclusion “is clearly a mistake.
We are not a military company or supplier. Unlike sanctions or export controls, this listing has no impact on our business. We will nonetheless work with the Department of Defense to address any misunderstanding." The other companies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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