As the Senate prepares to review tough-on-China legislation, a Pentagon-designated “Chinese military company” is working overtime to torpedo a bill aimed at protecting American data from falling into the hands of Beijing.
Chinese-owned drone manufacturer Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) is the lead sponsor of The Drone Advocacy Alliance (DAA), an organization that carried out an extensive constituent mobilization campaign during August’s congressional recess, calling on citizens who use drones to contact their representatives to voice opposition to the “Countering CCP Drones Act.” The House voted overwhelmingly to pass the legislation on Monday, with the bill now heading to the Senate for further consideration. (RELATED: Chinese Military Companies Have Spent Over $24 Million Lobbying The US Gov’t In Recent Years)
The Department of Defense has flagged DJI as a “Chinese military company,” meaning that it is “directly or indirectly owned, controlled or beneficially owned by” the Chinese military or otherwise a “military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base.” DJI’s influence operation has exerted considerable pressure on Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who is sponsoring the Senate version of the legislation, his office shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Senator Scott has heard from dozens of constituents who are concerned about the lies being pushed by DJI and their lobbyists to undermine this good legislation,” a spokesperson for Scott told the DCNF. “Drones made by companies in adversarial nations, like Communist China’s DJI, are not allowed by United States Government entities and military because of the severe security risks they pose — for the safety of American families, we shouldn’t let them spy on the public either.”
The Countering CCP Drones Act, if passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden, would ban drones manufactured by DJI from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure, rendering the wirelessly controlled drones functionally unusable, according to Commercial UAV News.
The voting timeline for the Countering CCP Drones Act on the Senate side is still to be determined, Scott’s office told the DCNF.
A drone remote pilot from the Air Resources unit of the Paris police prefecture trains with a flying DJI Mavric 3 Enterprise drone. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)
The Treasury and Commerce Departments have sanctioned DJI, for providing the Chinese government with the surveillance drones being used to spy on Uyghur Muslims in the far western region of the country, The New York Times reported. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in January 2021 determined that the Chinese repression of Uyghurs amounted to genocide, a sentiment reiterated by Secretary Antony Blinken, his successor, in 2022.
Independent researchers have also found that the app used to control DJI’s drones collects large quantities of personal data that the Chinese government could potentially access, according to The New York Times.
“CCP-controlled drone company DJI is sponsoring and using the Drone Advocacy Alliance to market DJI drones as critical life saving tools that do not pose risks to U.S. national security,” Republican Michigan Rep. John Moolenaar, chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, told the DCNF. “However, the opposite is the case. DJI is directly facilitating genocidal crimes, arming the Chinese military and advancing the strategic objectives of the CCP, an adversary that threatens U.S. national security.”
Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, one of the bill’s primary backers in the House, has alleged that DJI, one of the most popular drone manufacturers in the world, is already providing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with information about the United States’ “critical infrastructure.”
“Communist Chinese controlled DJI is desperately attempting to build opposition to my Countering CCP Drones Act through an advocacy group bought and paid for by the Chinese Communist Party,” Stefanik told the DCNF. “Using the same playbook as TikTok, DJI is trying to mobilize American voters against legislation that is critical for U.S. economic and national security.”
DJI disputes these charges, arguing that they do not pose a threat to data security and characterizing attacks against them as “xenophobic.” The company, one of the most popular drone manufacturers in the world, uses its blog to direct its sizable customer base to support DAA’s efforts.
“It’s crucial to ensure your voices are heard and your perspectives considered before they return to session on September 9,” DJI said in a July blog post. “If possible, invite them out to fly a drone so they can see for themselves how important these products are and how safe they are to use. We encourage you to visit the Drone Advocacy Alliance to learn how you can make your voice heard.”
DJI and DAA did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
Vic Moss and Chris Fink, two drone users who manage DAA, revealed to the NYT in April that DJI funds their efforts. “DJI has zero say so about what we do as a board,” Moss told the DCNF, referring to DAA’s leadership.
DAA encourages its supporters to set up meetings with members of Congress to explain why the Chinese-made drones are important to them. The advocacy group has also set up a webpage that provides individuals with the phone number for both of their senators’ offices and a script to read over the phone to voice their displeasure with the bill.
“My name is [NAME], and I live in [CITY OR ZIP CODE]. I urge you to vote no on S. 4792, the Countering CCP Drones Act,” the script reads, going on to instruct callers to explain why they oppose the bill.
“The bill would prevent the leading drone manufacturer from bringing new products to the U.S. market and could possibly ground the drones people already own and use for public safety, business, research and for entertainment,” the script continues. It also instructs callers to say the drone ban would harm small businesses and kill American jobs.
DAA has attempted to recruit farmers, agricultural workers, business owners, hobbyists and those concerned with public safety to pressure lawmakers to abandon the Countering CCP Drones Act. When inputting information into DAA’s lawmaker contact templates, individuals are asked if they’d like to be contacted with “periodic call to action text messages” from the group.
Multiple drone vendors have also joined DAA’s coalition, according to the group’s website. Supporters range from a local drone shop in Pittsburgh called Steel City Drones to the Drone Service Providers Alliance (DSPA), an interest group that advocates on behalf of people who use drones for their work.
Steel City Drones told the DCNF that the proposed congressional ban on DJI products was “wrong for the United States and the push[ed] for the wrong reasons” given the gap in the U.S. market for drones of comparable quality. Moss, who also runs DSPA, argued that evidence for DJI’s cooperation with the Chinese military was scant, that fears surrounding DJI drones are speculative and that banning the company’s products will negatively impact American business owners.
“First off, over 70% of all Drone Service Providers (DSPs) would close their doors if DJI was no longer available when it comes to replacing their fleets,” Moss said. “The vast majority of DSPs use DJI Mavics, Airs and Inspires to run their businesses … if Scott and Stefanik have their way in their respective chambers, those companies can no longer introduce new equipment.”
Moss also stressed the importance of DJI to first responders, stating that the ban would cost American lives as fire and police departments struggle to replace their drone fleets.
“It distresses me to no end to see my own party going after my livelihood with zero thought put into its inevitable outcome,” Moss, who identifies as a conservative, told the DCNF. “How can our politicians be that blind to reality? They refuse to listen to those of use who fly drones for a living. There are better ways.”
Ukrainian military practice to operate DJI Mavic 3 quadcopter drone in a village 60 km from the front line. (Photo by Viktor Fridshon/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
The DAA web campaign also provides interested individuals with a pre-written X post to publish voicing opposition to the legislation.
“The Senate is considering the Countering CCP Drones Act which would force thousands of small businesses to close and cost thousands of American jobs. There’s no replacement for the capabilities and reliability of these drones. Oppose this bill! #NoDroneBan,” the X template reads.
So far, dozens of posts have been made on X under the “NoDroneBan” tag.
DAA has come under fire from lawmakers, with Moolenaar and Stefanik accusing it in a May letter to the Department of Justice of potentially acting as an unregistered foreign agent by engaging in a political campaign on behalf of DJI, which they call a “CCP-controlled” company.
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