Recently, bipartisan members of the US Congress sent a letter to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in Virginia, urging the county to cease the use of Chinese-manufactured drones. They also requested that in future procurement and collaboration projects, Chinese drones be excluded to safeguard national security interests in the United States.
On September 27th, the Chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP, John Moolenaar, and the committee’s Democratic Chief Member, Raja Krishnamoorthi, wrote to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors regarding the national security threat posed by Chinese-made drones to the United States. They urged the county to discontinue the use of such drones and to prohibit the procurement of Chinese-manufactured drones in the future.
Fairfax County, located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is home to many US government leaders and sensitive national security agencies such as the CIA, NRO, and DNI.
It is also where major defense enterprises like General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman, Fortune 500 companies, have their headquarters.
In the letter, the members of Congress highlighted that the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 explicitly prohibits the Department of Defense from purchasing and using Chinese-manufactured drones and related components due to the increasing threats of espionage and data security breaches.
They stated, “The Select Committee on the CCP has identified that Chinese-manufactured drones pose a threat to America’s national and economic security. Concerned entities include but are not limited to Shenzhen DJI Sciences and Technologies Ltd., and Autel Robotics.”
Recently, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released industry cybersecurity guidelines regarding Chinese-manufactured drones, pointing out the data transmission risks to the CCP posed by DJI drones.
The guidelines indicate that using Chinese-manufactured drones could potentially expose sensitive information to Chinese authorities, jeopardizing US national security, economic security, as well as public health and safety.
In the letter, it was revealed that DJI is circumventing regulations through a practice known as “white-labeling.” The company is collaborating with other companies, such as the US drone company Anzu Robotics, through technical sharing agreements. Anzu will sell drones produced by DJI under its own brand in the US market.
Members of Congress noted that due to unfair subsidies provided by the Chinese government for its drones, these Chinese-manufactured drones are more cost-effective. Congress will be responsible for ensuring the provision of relevant funding assistance to address potential financial pressures on state and local governments.
The public letter mentioned that as of May 2023, seven states had discontinued the use of Chinese drone systems and banned future procurement due to concerns about government data collection by the Chinese authorities.
The “Countering CCP Drones Act, H.R. 2864,” passed unanimously by the House on September 9th as part of a series of anti-China legislation during the “China Week” after the House reconvened in September, will prohibit the operation of new drones manufactured by the Chinese drone maker DJI in the United States.