Chinese drone maker DJI sues Pentagon over blacklisting

SHANGHAI, China — Chinese drone maker DJI on Saturday said it was suing the US Department of Defense, complaining that Washington had "erroneously" included the company on a Chinese military company blacklist.

"On October 18, DJI filed a lawsuit to challenge the Department of Defense's (DoD) erroneous designation of the company as a 'Chinese Military Company,'" DJI said in a statement sent to AFP.

The Pentagon added DJI to its list of Chinese military-linked companies in 2022.

DJI said it had attempted to "engage with the DoD for more than sixteen months" and had now "determined it had no alternative other than to seek relief in federal court."

DJI has faced scrutiny from Washington in recent years, including for its role in surveilling ethnic minorities in China, and the company's drones are reported to have been used extensively by both sides in the war in Ukraine.