Washington [US], September 14: The US continues to take additional punitive actions against China, especially in the technology sector.
The South China Morning Post reported yesterday (September 13) that Mr. Xie Feng, Chinese Ambassador to the United States, has just given a speech on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the normalization of relations between the two countries. Speaking via video at a conference of the Asia Society (in New York, USA) on September 12 (local time), after some polite words, Mr. Xie outlined four red lines with the US: Taiwan, democracy, human rights and the free development of China.
New US move
On the same day, September 13, international media reported that the US House of Representatives had just passed a series of bills to counter China's influence and ensure that the US prevails in the competition between the two countries.
The bill would ban Chinese-made drones, restrict access to the US market for biotech companies with ties to China, and increase sanctions on China. Both parties in the US remain broadly in agreement on containing China. In response to the bill's passage, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said the measures would harm bilateral relations and US interests.
Also included in the bills, the US House of Representatives passed a bill banning new drones from DJI (China) from operating on US networks, as it is considered an "unacceptable risk to US national security". The bill was passed on the grounds of protecting Americans' data and critical infrastructure, Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, who introduced the bill, stressed that the US Congress must use all tools to "prevent China's monopoly control over the UAV market".
DJI, meanwhile, argues that users have the right to choose whether or not to share data such as flight logs, photos, and videos with DJI. If users choose not to share, DJI "has no data to share" in response to any government request.
Speaking on a Bloomberg program broadcast on September 12, expert Yun Sun, Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center (USA), commented that China will suffer losses regardless of who wins the US presidential election this year. According to this expert, US Vice President Kamala Harris may continue the policy of controlling high-tech exports, while if former US President Donald Trump, he may also promote the trade war with China.
Big concerns from DJI's UAVs
Responding to Thanh Nien , Dr. Satoru Nagao (Hudson Research Institute, USA) pointed out 3 reasons why the US House of Representatives voted to ban DJI's new UAV lines from operating in the US.
The first is commercial. DJI has a huge influence in the UAV market, accounting for 79% of the global market share and 54% of the US market share in 2023. Therefore, the new regulation makes it impossible for DJI to sell UAVs in the US, opening the way for other companies to replace DJI.
Second is security. In 2017, the Chinese government passed the "National Intelligence Law," which requires Chinese companies with operations abroad to hand over data to the Chinese government. Therefore, it is possible that information collected by DJI UAVs will be shared with the Chinese government.
Third is the military, when recent conflicts show that UAVs play a significant military role. Typically, in the recent conflict with Armenia, Azerbaijan gained the upper hand and almost won thanks to UAVs. In the Ukraine conflict, both Russia and Ukraine used UAVs. On the battlefield, many types of UAVs, from small to large, as well as short-range to long-range types, are used in a variety of ways to collect information and even attack. Therefore, if Chinese UAVs expand in the US market, it can limit the development of US UAVs in the domestic market, affecting military strength. For this reason, the US needs to eliminate large Chinese companies and re-establish the UAV industry as soon as possible.
It is likely that similar moves against DJI UAVs will soon follow in other countries that share the same views as the US.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper