Drone maker used by FBI and DHS is a Chinese military company, Pentagon says

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Drone maker used by FBI and DHS is a Chinese military company, Pentagon says

by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter |
October 06, 2022

A Chinese government-linked drone maker whose aerial surveillance is used by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. law enforcement agencies has been named a “Chinese Military Company” by the Pentagon.

The Beijing-backed Shenzhen DJI Sciences and Technologies, which commonly goes by DJI, was added to a list of Chinese military companies operating in the United States by the Defense Department on Wednesday. An initial tranche of 47 Chinese companies, including global telecommunications behemoth Huawei, had been added to the Pentagon list in June 2021, and DJI was among 11 more Chinese companies added in a second tranche this week.

“The Department is determined to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s Military-Civil Fusion strategy, which supports the modernization 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 programs that appear to be civilian entities,” the Pentagon said.

The designation of DJI could lead to further restrictions on its use in the U.S.

The FBI and DHS admitted in July that they were continuing to purchase and use the Chinese-made DJI drones despite significant national security concerns about them, with Biden officials stressing the agencies are attempting to move away from Chinese drones.

Brad Wiegmann, the deputy assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee this summer that the FBI is buying and making use of drones from DJI.

Samantha Vinograd, DHS’s acting assistant secretary for counterterrorism, threat prevention, and law enforcement policy, was more limited in her Senate responses but also confirmed her department was buying and using foreign drones in certain circumstances.

The FBI and DHS did not respond to requests for comment about DJI being dubbed a Chinese military company.

DJI had boosted its spending to lobby lawmakers this year ahead of a crucial vote on the use of "Made in China" drones. Republicans have unsuccessfully sought to ban all federal agency use of the Chinese drones and to ban any federal funding for them.

The Chinese company filed its latest lobbying disclosure form this summer, detailing its efforts in the second quarter of 2022 and showing the company spent $380,000 from April to June. This is the second-largest total DJI ever reported spending in a quarter since its filings began in 2016, just behind the $420,000 spent in the final part of 2020. New lobbying filings are due this month.

The Commerce Department added DJI to its blacklist in December 2020, and the Treasury Department designated it as a “Chinese Military-Industrial Complex” company in December 2021, in part because it “has provided drones to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, which are used to surveil Uyghurs in Xinjiang.” The Xinjiang Public Security Bureau was designated in July 2020 for being responsible for “serious human rights abuse.”

The Pentagon had determined by July 2021 that DJI systems “pose potential threats to national security.”