Pentagon adds Alibaba, Baidu to Chinese military companies list, blocking U.S. defense contracts

Pentagon says top Chinese internet firms Alibaba, Baidu are aiding military

Unitree Robotics humanoid robots dance during the opening day of Asia's first embodied intelligence experience store in Shanghai on May 31. (Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images) The Pentagon has updated a major list of Chinese companies it says are supporting Beijing's military, adding dozens of prominent firms, including internet giants Alibaba and Baidu and electric vehicle maker BYD. The much-anticipated update, which is typically issued around once a year, comes a month after President Donald Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with the two leaders maintaining a fragile truce on trade. With the addition of Alibaba and Baidu, the significantly expanded list now includes China's three largest listed internet companies, with a combined market value of roughly $850 billion, and extends the military-linked designation to some of the country's best-known internet, AI and advanced manufacturing firms. The Chinese Military Companies List is not a formal sanction but represents a reputational blow for some of China's largest technology companies. Firms added often face heightened scrutiny from U.S. investors and policymakers, and many have later become targets of export controls, federal procurement bans and other U.S. restrictions. Analysts say the move -- which is expected to draw the ire of the Chinese government -- suggests the administration intends to maintain pressure on Beijing despite the cordial tone struck by Trump and Xi at last month's meeting. "It serves as a post-summit reality check," said Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "The administration is not treating the perception of summit success as a reason to stand down. It is using the post-summit window to sequence pressure, leaving enough distance before a possible September Xi visit to manage diplomatic fallout." In February, as preparations for the Beijing summit were underway, the Pentagon briefly released an updated version of the list before withdrawing it the same day without explanation. That list drew criticism from China hawks in Washington over the removal of memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC, companies seen as central to Beijing's AI efforts. The updated list released on Monday included both of those firms. China's embassy in Washington condemned the move on Monday -- calling it an abuse of national security powers. "The U.S. should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and nondiscriminatory environment for Chinese companies," the embassy said in a statement. Alibaba and Baidu said in separate statements to the Post that accusations they are military companies are baseless, and that they intend to take action to seek removal from the list. BYD did not respond to a request for comment. The updated list highlights several sectors that have come under increasing scrutiny from China-focused lawmakers. Following the announcement, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Michigan), chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said the designations should serve as a "warning" to U.S. businesses and consumers. "These Chinese companies are working with the Chinese military against our national interests. Any of them that are publicly traded on U.S. exchanges should be immediately delisted and their products should be removed from supply chains our country depends on," Moolenaar said in a statement. Among other firms added to the list are Chinese pharmaceutical firm Wuxi AppTec, electric car maker Nio and TP-Link, an electronics hardware company that claims to hold over 30 percent of the U.S. market share of certain networking devices, including WiFi routers. Also included on Monday's list is Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics, an upstart maker that has shot into the public eye recently, including earlier this month when a dance troupe of its humanoid robots performed on an episode of "America's Got Talent." Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced that the U.S. chipmaker planned to partner with Unitree to develop robotic platforms for researchers. Once added to the Pentagon list, companies face an uphill battle to be removed. Several firms have mounted aggressive campaigns to overturn their designations, including smartphone maker Xiaomi, which successfully sued to be removed from an earlier Pentagon list in 2021. Tencent, China's largest listed technology firm, has said it intends to challenge its designation after being added to the list in January 2025.

Pentagon labels tech giant Alibaba and car maker BYD as aiding Chinese military

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has added several prominent Chinese businesses, including the tech giant Alibaba, electric car maker BYD and search engine Baidu, to its list of Chinese military companies, preventing them from getting U.S. defense contracts. The list, updated and published Monday by the Pentagon, now sanctions well-known, non-state-owned Chinese companies that are not traditionally considered to be in the defense or security sector. It reflects growing wariness of Beijing's strategy of tapping the strength of non-state businesses for military purposes. Created in 2021 by a congressional mandate, the list seeks to identify Chinese companies that the Pentagon considers to have links to the Chinese military -- not only those directly controlled by the Chinese military and security forces but also those contributing to the country's defense industrial base. When updating the list last year, the Pentagon said the Chinese military sought to acquire advanced technologies and expertise developed by Chinese companies, universities and research programs that "appear to be civilian entities." The Chinese Embassy on Monday accused the U.S. of "overstretching the concept of national security and making discriminatory lists to go after Chinese companies." It said Chinese companies observe the laws and regulations of the countries where they do business. "The U.S. should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies," the embassy said in a statement. Alibaba and Baidu said there is no basis for including them on the list. "Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy," a statement from the leading e-commerce company said. Baidu, which has expanded into artificial intelligence and self-driving taxis, said the suggestion that it is a military company is "entirely baseless." This year's list has grown to 188 Chinese entities, up from last year's roughly 130 named by the Pentagon. It already had covered companies such as DJI, a major maker of consumer drones. While a company on the list can still do business in the U.S., it faces reputational damage and could be subject to more restrictions. After the Pentagon released the updated list, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party called it "a warning to American businesses, all levels of government, and the American people." It said the companies on the list that are traded publicly on U.S. exchanges should be delisted and no American company should do business with those on the list, "otherwise they are enabling China's military ascendance." In naming Alibaba, the Pentagon said the tech giant helps boost China's defense industrial base because it is affiliated with the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Alibaba is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The Pentagon said BYD and Baidu are affiliated with the same ministry, which oversees China's technology and industrial policies. BYD is dominant in the global electric vehicle market, and President Donald Trump said in January that he would welcome Chinese carmakers such as BYD if they built plants in the U.S. and hired American workers. However, a number of U.S. lawmakers have said they will seek a ban on Chinese electric vehicles. Another addition is the Chinese robotics company Unitree, whose dancing robots impressed Simon Cowell on NBC's "America's Got Talent." The Pentagon said the company "knowingly received assistance" from the Chinese government through its designation as a small or medium-sized company that is highly innovative, highly competitive globally and critical to the country's supply chain. BYD and Unitree did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.