Drones are hovering over caves and crevices around northern Utah’s mountain trails, feeding live video back to ground search teams looking for missing hikers. Nineteen minutes later, they had her coordinates, bringing the rescue—an exercise—nearly over.
“It’s actually pretty fast in this environment,” said search and rescue volunteer Kyle Nordfors. He was operating one of the drones made by China’s DJI, which dominates sales to U.S. law enforcement agencies and the hobbyist market.
But if DJI drones are the tool of choice for emergency responders across the country, they are widely viewed in Washington as a national security threat.
DJI has been added to the Department of Defense’s list of Chinese military companies that will ban future purchases of its products by the U.S. Armed Forces. Other federal agencies and programs may also be barred from purchasing DJI drones as part of the defense budget passed by Congress this year.
The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments fined DJI for using its drones to spy on Uighur Muslims held by Chinese officials in camps in Xinjiang province.Researchers find Beijing can Potential exploits Although U.S. officials say there are currently no known vulnerabilities that have not yet been patched, apps that control drones could harvest vast troves of personal information.
Now, Congress is considering legislation that would put DJI on the Federal Communications Commission’s register, preventing it from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure, potentially killing much of DJI’s commercial business in the United States.
The bill has bipartisan support and is the subject of a strong lobbying campaign by DJI. The company hopes Americans like Nordvos who use its products can help convince lawmakers that the U.S. has nothing to worry about and a lot to gain by keeping DJI drones flying.
But influence campaigns face a skeptical audience.
“DJI poses unacceptable national security risks,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., one of the bill’s lead sponsors, said in an emailed statement this month. Risk, the withdrawal of communist China-made drones from the United States is a thing of the past.”
Stefanik said government agencies have indicated that DJI drones are providing data on U.S. “critical infrastructure” to the Chinese Communist Party, without elaborating. “Any attempt to say otherwise is a direct result of DJI’s lobbying efforts.”
The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed a bill last month that would effectively ban DJI drones from flying, known as the Anti-Chinese Drone Act. A lobbyist and China expert briefed on the plan said the bill could come to a full House vote in the next month or two as part of what they called a planned “China Week.” During this period, some may consider imposing restrictions on the country’s business activities in the United States.
The bill is also likely to gain support in the Senate, which has imposed various restrictions on Chinese-made drones in recent years.
During the 2024 campaign, both sides are eager to appear tough on China.this The Senate passed a bill on Tuesday That would force ByteDance, the Chinese owner of popular social media network TikTok, to sell the app within a year or cease operating in the United States.President Biden signed into law Wednesday.
Like TikTok, DJI drones are wildly popular in the United States. David Benowitz, a former DJI employee at US drone manufacturer BRINC, estimates that DJI drones will account for 58% of the commercial market by 2022.There are no accurate, up-to-date data on DJI’s popularity among law enforcement agencies, but Study at Bard College in 2020 According to FAA records, the company’s share is 90%.
DJI’s lobbying efforts are backed by grassroots users who worry that banning the company’s drones would be disruptive and costly, especially since U.S. suppliers have yet to prove they can compete on cost or quality.
“In addition to the national security risks posed by these drones, we need a strong and competitive U.S. drone industry,” said Rep. John Mueller, R-Mich. and chairman of the House Committee on U.S.-China Competition. John Moolenaar said in a statement.
DJI spent $1.6 million on lobbying last year, according to open secret, Tracking Money in Politics. It said it has spent at least $310,000 so far this year. Senate lobbying disclosures. Some of the funds help emergency responders use DJI drones to hold meetings with lawmakers.
The company also funds a website called the Drone Advocacy Alliance, according to Vic Moss and Chris Fink, two drone users who manage the site. It is intended in part to raise awareness of the Anti-China Drone Act and includes a template for contacting lawmakers directly.
“Our products are designed to promote the public interest and benefit society,” DJI spokesperson Regina Lin said in a statement. She denied that the drones were involved in human rights abuses and said they were not intended to Surveillance.
DJI recently opened a showroom on prime Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to showcase its drones, which range in price from $279 to at least $9,000 for a wide range of uses, including amateur and professional photography, videography and construction.
“Some of my friends and I use them to measure terrain and get the dimensions of buildings,” said Paolo Dallapozza, an Italian architect who recently visited the store.
amidst the din China hawks in Congress At least two companies representing DJI — Vogel Group and Avoq — severed ties with DJI in February, according to Senate lobbying disclosures. Senate documents show DJI quickly hired new representatives, including a liberal government affairs unit run by a former top aide to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has been hostile to efforts to curb TikTok .
DJI Law Firm Complain to the Pentagon Regarding its inclusion in the directory of Chinese military industrial enterprises. DJI has been trying to remove itself, but so far without success. Lawyers noted, among other things, that DJI is owned by Chinese state-owned enterprises — including several banks, a state-owned insurance company and two municipal funds — that own less than 6% of the company.
“DJI’s ownership is concentrated primarily in the hands of its founders and early executives, none of whom are government officials or representatives of government or state-owned entities,” said Lowe, the former attorney general under President Barack Obama and now the attorney general. Loretta Lynch said. partners at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison wrote in a letter to the Department of Defense in July.
However, the Pentagon did not give in.
As China “seeks to blur the lines between the civilian and military sectors, ‘know your customer’ is critical,” said Defense Department spokesman Jeff Jurgensen.
“U.S. companies must remain vigilant and not assist the People’s Republic of China in its military plans,” he added, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Strategic discussions among DJI lobbyists have taken on an air of panic in recent weeks, according to a company representative who spoke on condition of anonymity. Users like Fink have tried to intervene. Fink, a former 911 dispatcher, runs a drone shop in Fayetteville, Arkansas, selling a variety of makes and models, including some from DJI.
Fink said he is less concerned about where drones are manufactured than making sure consumers have a choice of quality products. “I think we just need more competitive products that provide a cohesive, reliable, secure, easy-to-use system,” he said.
Michael Lighthiser manages a fleet of drones, many produced by DJI, for George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He met virtually with representatives from the state, including Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine’s staff, to oppose the proposed restrictions. Use a DJI drone. But in acknowledgment of political realities, Lighthizer said he also recently purchased a fixed-wing vertical takeoff drone from manufacturer Event 38 Unmanned Systems of Ridgefield, Ohio.
Lighthizer said the Event 38 drone is slightly more expensive than DJI’s version, but “I don’t want to buy something made in China that could be snatched up in a month.”
Julian E.Barnes Reporting from Washington also contributed.
