Pentagons Latest China Blacklist Reflects Growing Doubts About Private Firms Independence

BYD electric cars for export waiting to be loaded on the “BYD Explorer NO.1,” a domestically manufactured vessel intended to export Chinese automobiles, at Yantai port, in Shandong Province, China, on Jan. 10, 2024. STR/AFP via Getty ImagesThe Pentagon’s recent decision to add several of China’s best-known tech and manufacturing companies to a list of firms linked to the Chinese military is drawing renewed attention to a question at the center of U.S.–China tensions—how independent are Chinese private companies from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)?In an updated list released on June 8, the Department of War added a number of major Chinese firms to its Section 1260H list of entities identified as having ties to China’s military-industrial complex.