The US Department of Defense announced on June 3 that it had added Alibaba Group, Baidu, BYD and a number of other leading Chinese enterprises to a list of entities Washington considers to be linked to the Chinese military.
This list already included many Chinese technology and defense companies. This expansion marks the latest step in the US government's efforts to curb military-technology cooperation between Beijing and private corporations.
The newly added firms are major players in e-commerce, information technology, and electric vehicle manufacturing. Alibaba is a leading e-commerce conglomerate, Baidu is a front-runner in artificial intelligence and search services, while BYD is China's largest producer of electric vehicles and batteries.
The US Department of Defense stated that its identification of these enterprises as Chinese military companies is based on legal criteria related to cooperation and support for military activities. This move could lead to trade and investment restrictions against these companies under current US regulations.
There has been no official response yet from the Chinese companies or the Beijing government. However, similar actions in the past have often drawn strong opposition from China, which argues that such measures represent unjustified interference in normal business operations.
