Chinese tech giant Alibaba has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense, demanding removal from a Pentagon list designating it as a Chinese military company. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, argues the designation has 'no basis in fact or law' and was made without a fair process.
The Pentagon added Alibaba to the list on June 8, which prohibits designated companies from securing U.S. defense contracts and carries reputational damage. The list, created in 2021 at Congress's request, includes 188 entities, including state-owned defense businesses and private-sector tech firms like Alibaba and robotics company Unitree.
Alibaba, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, claims it is not a military company and denies ties to China's military-civil fusion strategy. The lawsuit also argues the designation violates First Amendment rights by restricting the company's ability to retain U.S. lobbying firms.
The Pentagon's list includes companies it alleges are directly controlled by the Chinese military or contribute to China's defense industrial base. WuXi AppTec, a biopharmaceutical company, was also added to the list, with the Pentagon stating it is 'indirectly owned' by China's state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
China retaliated on Monday by imposing export controls on 10 U.S. defense and rare earths mining companies, escalating tensions between the two nations. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal challenges by Chinese companies against Pentagon designations.