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Will Chinese drone giant DJI fly the friendly skies under Joe Biden’s watch?
- Shenzhen-based DJI, the world’s largest drone maker, has been caught in the crossfire of deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing
- Concerns remain about how Chinese-made drones can potentially be used in the US as a Trojan Horse for intelligence-gathering and espionage
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On a winter’s night in 2015, members of the US Secret Service rushed to investigate a disturbance at the White House lawn. There, they found a drone – identified as a hobbyist-operated Phantom FC40, made by Chinese firm SZ DJI Technology Co – that crashed into a tree.
Scrutiny by US federal agencies on the security risks posed by Chinese-made drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or unmanned aerial systems (UAS), has steadily increased since then, according to analysts.
Under President Joe Biden, the US government is not expected to diverge substantially from that process, as concerns remain that Beijing and various Chinese companies present a threat to the country’s national security.
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“While we assume the Biden administration will take a different approach, the Trump administration’s actions align closely with Biden’s stated policy goals and directions,” said David Benowitz, head of research at DroneAnalyst and a former DJI executive. “The shift, however, is likely to move away from criticising Chinese manufacturers on the basis of security … to being more upfront about goals to support a domestic manufacturing base for UAS.”
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Shenzhen-based DJI, the world’s largest drone maker, has been caught in the crossfire of deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing, with the US government raising questions about data security and human rights violations.
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