Pentagon accuses Alibaba, BYD of aiding Chinese military

The Pentagon has barred Chinese tech giant Alibaba, electric car maker BYD and search engine Baidu from getting U.S. defense contracts by adding them to its list of Chinese military companies operating in America.

The Defense Department on Monday published an updated list of non-state-owned Chinese companies that, while not in traditional defense or security sectors, are alleged to have ties with Beijing’s military.

Fifteen new companies were added to the list, which was created in 2021 by a congressional mandate that looks to identify Chinese companies considered to be a possible threat, as Beijing sometimes uses such firms for military purposes. 

In the case of Alibaba, the Pentagon asserts it is “a military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base because it is affiliated with [China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)],” the overseer of China’s technology and industrial policies, according to the list. 

BYD and Baidu, meanwhile, both have affiliations with Beijing’s State-owned........

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