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

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - June 09, 2026 07:09 am IST - Washington 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. File. | Photo Credit: Reuters The Pentagon has added several prominent Chinese businesses, including 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 on Monday (June 8, 2026) by the Pentagon, now sanctions well-known, non-state-owned Chinese companies that are not traditionally considered to be in the defence 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 defence 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 programmes that "appear to be civilian entities". The Chinese Embassy on Monday (June 8, 2026) 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 US should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies," the Embassy said in a statement. 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 US, it faces reputational damage and could be subject to more restrictions. 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 car-makers 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. Alibaba, BYD, Baidu and Unitree did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

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

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

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