List published in February was withdrawn within minutes; reissued after US-China summit talks

Chinese memory chipmakers YMTC and CXMT also retained on list

Logo of Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD. [AFP]
Logo of Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD. [AFP]

The US Department of Defense announced Monday that it has placed Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Baidu, along with electric vehicle maker BYD, on its list of companies deemed to support China's People's Liberation Army.

The Pentagon said in a press release that it had published an updated list of Chinese military companies operating directly or indirectly in the United States in the Federal Register, as required under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Section 1260H authorizes the Defense Department to compile and maintain a list of Chinese companies determined to be supporting China's military.

The updated list identifies 188 entities under Section 1260H. Among those named are Alibaba, China's leading e-commerce company; Baidu, the country's dominant internet search portal; and BYD, a rival to US electric vehicle maker Tesla.

The Pentagon cited each company's direct or indirect ties to either the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) or China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as grounds for designation. Alibaba and Baidu were described as "civil-military fusion contributors to the Chinese defense industrial base" with links to MIIT, while BYD was characterized as a "civil-military fusion contributor" with direct and indirect ties to SASAC and indirect ties to MIIT.

Inclusion on the list does not immediately trigger sanctions or export controls, but the companies are likely to be excluded from future Pentagon contracts and procurement projects. The designation serves as a warning to Defense Department suppliers and other US government agencies about the military's assessment of these firms.

"The US government retains the right to take additional actions against these entities under authorities other than Section 1260H," the Pentagon said.

The list had originally been published in the Federal Register on Feb. 13, only to be withdrawn as unpublished within minutes at the Pentagon's request — a move that fueled speculation the Defense Department was trying to avoid friction ahead of planned US-China summit talks.

At the time, a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had been scheduled for early April. Trump later requested a postponement amid the fallout from the Iran war, and the summit was ultimately held in Beijing from May 15 to 16 — more than a month later.

When news broke in February that Alibaba and Baidu had been added to the list, both companies pushed back, saying they provide only civilian products and services and have no basis to be classified as military-linked firms. They also signaled they would consider legal action.

With the list now formally published, the companies are expected to renew their opposition. The designation in effect signals future penalties, and legal challenges remain a possibility.

Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (YMTC), China's largest NAND flash memory manufacturer, and CXMT, a DRAM maker, were also retained on the list. Both companies were cited for being indirectly owned by SASAC and for indirect ties to MIIT and China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. Their brief absence from the February version of the list had drawn criticism from China hawks in the United States.


yckim6452@heraldcorp.com