Pentagon adds Alibaba and Baidu to list of firms linked to Chinese military
Key takeaways
- Tech's international relations haven’t thawed despite Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping.
- As CNBC notes, being included in this particular list doesn't mean the US government is imposing sanctions on them.
- Apparently, the agency already published an updated list in February, but it pulled the list down before President Trump's trip to Beijing in May.
Tech's international relations haven’t thawed despite Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping.
Artem Onoprienko/Getty Images The Defense Department has released an updated list of companies it believes are linked to the Chinese military, and it now includes e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba and internet services provider Baidu. As CNBC notes, being included in this particular list doesn't mean the US government is imposing sanctions on them. However, it does mean that the Defense Department will no longer be able to sign contracts directly with the companies in the list, or even use their products or services through third parties. That means it could still lead to loss in contracts for the companies, since some US firms working with the Pentagon might end up dropping them as suppliers.
Apparently, the agency already published an updated list in February, but it pulled the list down before President Trump's trip to Beijing in May. Re-uploading the updated list and even including Chinese memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC in the most recent version shows that the relationship between the two countries, specifically in the realm of technology, hasn't exactly thawed despite Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.