US Congress Members Urge Pentagon to Add DeepSeek and Xiaomi to the List of Chinese Military-Related Companies

JAKARTA - Nine US Congress members from the Republican Party, including several committee chairmen, sent a letter this week to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. They urged the Pentagon to add more than a dozen Chinese technology companies to the list of entities suspected of having ties to the Chinese military.

The letter, released on Friday, December 19 after US President Donald Trump signed a military spending bill worth about 900 billion US dollars that limits US investment in Chinese technology. They asked Hegseth to include the AI company DeepSeek, smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, and pharmaceutical services company WuXi AppTec on a list known as Section 1260H.

Although placement on the Pentagon's list, which is updated annually, does not directly impose a ban, it provides a stark warning to US entities about the risks of doing business with the companies. It could even pressure the executive branch as well as Congress to add further restrictions.

Other companies mentioned by the members of Congress include battery maker Gotion High-Tech; chip companies Hua Hong Semiconductor, Kingsemi, and Shennan Circuit; display and imaging companies BOE Technology Group and Tianma Microelectronics; sensing, surveillance, and robotics companies such as CloudMinds, LeiShen, Livox, RoboSense, Tiandy Technologies, Unitree Robotics; and biotech company GenScript Group.

The list, which reflects bipartisan concerns that the US is contributing to companies that support China's military buildup, was last updated in January 2025. The 2021 defense authorization law, similar to the one Trump signed this week, requires the 1260H list to be updated annually until 2030.

In recent years, several Chinese companies blacklisted - including drone maker DJI and lidar maker Hesai Group - have sued the Pentagon over their inclusion, arguing they have no military ties.

Other companies already on the list include technology giant Tencent Holdings and major battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL).

"The companies listed below represent the next logical group of military-civilian fusion contributors whose designations under Section 1260H will directly support Congress' intent that US tax dollars not fund military-industrial capabilities as well as the internal security or intelligence of the People's Republic of China," wrote members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The signatories to the letter include the Chairman of the DPR Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, John Moolenaar, the Chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Andrew Garbarino, the Chairman of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Rick Crawford, as well as Senator Rick Scott.

The Pentagon declined to comment. Several companies on the list of members of Congress - such as battery maker Gotion - have been the target of congressional scrutiny for years, while others such as Unitree have recently attracted attention.

Earlier this year, Gotion's plan to set up a battery plant in Michigan fell through after local officials withdrew support amid political and public opposition to the company's ties with China.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that the Pentagon was considering adding Alibaba, Baidu, and electric vehicle maker BYD to the list.