Lawmakers Urge US Agencies to Restrict Use of Chinese Drones

In this photo illustration, a DJI Mavic 2 Pro made by the Chinese drone maker hovers in place in Miami on Dec. 15, 2021. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A dozen U.S. lawmakers urged the federal government on Sept. 6 to restrict the use of Chinese-made agriculture drones and requested a briefing with the Agriculture Department and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency by Sept. 30.

Highlighted in the letter from lawmakers was Chinese drone company DJI, which has been classified by the Department of Defense as a Chinese military company and is prohibited for U.S. military use.

DJI has denied ties to the Chinese military, but publicly available information shows ties between the manufacturer and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

DJI is the world’s largest drone company and manufactures a variety of models, including agricultural drones that dispense aerosol spray. According to Statista, it enjoys 76 percent of the market.

“The risk of these DJI agricultural spray drones being manipulated to carry out an attack in the United States cannot be ignored,” lawmakers wrote. “Relying on our greatest strategic adversary for technology critical to the success of our agricultural production endangers the resiliency of our food supply.”

According to a DJI report, the company began making agriculture drones in 2015, and because of “rapid development,” it increased production of such drones from 2,500 in 2016 to more than 134,800 in 2021.

Security, Human Rights Allegations

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), one of the letter’s signatories, introduced the Countering CCP Drones Act earlier this year. If it is signed into law, DJI equipment will be banned by the Federal Communications Commission. A Senate version was introduced in July.

In addition to investment by CCP entities, DJI has also expressed allegiance to the CCP, according to lawmakers. They pointed to Chinese websites that describe DJI as a partner working on the CCP’s central global projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative. DJI also welcomed a high-ranking CCP official for a visit and was described as adhering “to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought.”

In 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned DJI, blocking American investors from buying or selling DJI shares because of human rights concerns. DJI, a private company, does not trade shares. The sanctions do not prohibit the sale or use of DJI products.

As of March 2020, the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College counted 924 American public safety agencies, including police, sheriff, fire, and emergency services, that use DJI drones. DJI drones are estimated to make up about 80 percent of the U.S. market and 90 percent of the drones used by U.S. public safety agencies.

In March, DJI opened a flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, signaling expansion in the U.S. market.

The same day, Uyghur Human Rights Project released a report detailing the use of DJI equipment in the persecution of Uyghurs and other groups by the CCP. As a major supplier of surveillance technology in China, DJI entered into a partnership with the Xinjiang Public Security Department in 2017 to provide drones to local agencies in the region.

“Xinjiang police and other local authorities are still buying products from DJI. Xinjiang public security departments entered into seven procurement orders with DJI that were worth nearly US$300,000 between 2019 and 2022,” the report reads.

The CCP is known to persecute several ethnic minority groups and religious groups, subjecting them to arbitrary detention, forced labor, torture, and other human rights abuses. A United Nations investigation into the CCP’s persecution of Uyghurs independently confirmed in 2022 that “serious human rights violations have been committed” in the Xinjiang region.

“A DJI drone was used to film the video uploaded to YouTube in September 2019 showing hundreds of blindfolded and shackled men outside a train station in the Uyghur Region,” the report reads. “In the video, dozens of police officers appear to be transferring the men from a detention center in Kashgar to facilities in Korla.”

U.S. intelligence agencies have warned for years that Chinese-manufactured drones are being used by the Russian military in its war against Ukraine.

Last month, the CCP acceded to calls from the international community to restrict the use of Chinese-made drones for military application, issuing some restrictions on exports of drones that could be used for military or terrorist activities. At the same time, it lifted some restrictions on civilian drones.