China’s Baidu slams Pentagon blacklist move as “unfounded”

Chinese technology giant Baidu has pushed back against its inclusion on a Pentagon list of companies Washington alleges have links to China’s military, calling the designation “without legal basis”.

The company said it “is neither a military enterprise nor a military-civilian enterprise of China’s defence industry”, arguing there are no grounds for its inclusion, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

Baidu also said the US government’s procurement restrictions tied to the list would not affect its operations, adding that the designation does not restrict trading in its shares.

The US Department of Defence recently added Baidu, alongside Alibaba and electric vehicle maker BYD, to its list of so-called “Chinese military companies”, which it says are linked to China’s People’s Liberation Army.

The Pentagon has maintained and expanded the list since 2021. While inclusion does not immediately trigger sanctions, companies on it are barred from bidding for US defence contracts and may face increased scrutiny from investors over potential future restrictions.

More than 100 Chinese firms are now included on the list, spanning sectors including aviation, electronics, logistics, construction and telecommunications.

Beijing has repeatedly rejected similar US designations in the past, arguing they are politically motivated and distort normal commercial relations.

By Aghakazim Guliyev