Chinese enterprises take up legal weapons to suppress the United States and say 'no'

According to a report on the Financial Times website on January 7th, Tencent and CATL recently stated that they plan to take legal action if they fail to remove them from the Pentagon's "China Military Industry Companies List" after negotiations with the US Department of Defense

Social media and gaming giant Tencent, as well as the world's largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer CATL, announced on January 7th that they have questioned their inclusion in the annual updated "List of Chinese Military Industry Enterprises"

Tencent founder and chairman Pony Ma stated in a statement that the company will "discuss with the US Department of Defense" to remove the company from the list and will take legal action if necessary

He stated that Tencent is not a Chinese military industrial enterprise, nor is it a military civilian integration enterprise in China's defense industry

CATL stated in a statement that the company has never been involved in any military related business or activities, and this move by the US is a mistake that "has little impact on the company's business"

The company also stated that it will actively communicate and clarify with the US Department of Defense, including taking necessary legal actions to safeguard the rights and interests of our company and shareholders

According to reports, analysts say that if Chinese technology companies can prove that they were wrongly listed and successfully removed from the list, it will become a strong precedent

In 2021, consumer electronics group Xiaomi successfully removed itself from the Pentagon list, when the federal court ruled that the list lacked evidence

According to reports, Ivan Su, a senior stock analyst at Morningstar, wrote in a document to clients: "We believe that (Tencent) is very likely to be removed through US courts." On January 6th, the US Department of Defense also removed the artificial intelligence company Megvii Technology from the list

According to a report on the website of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post on January 7th, a renowned commercial litigation lawyer said that the US courts have become a venue for reflecting the broader geopolitical tensions between China and the United States. He referred to the US courts as a place where the two countries are fiercely competing, especially as Chinese companies formulate more confident overseas expansion plans

According to reports, due to the still tense relationship between the world's two largest economies, Chinese companies' investments in the United States have been declining

At the same time, more and more Chinese companies are finding themselves embroiled in legal proceedings in the United States, involved in commercial disputes with competitors, and have to sue the US government for various sanctions they have encountered

In 2024, companies such as drone manufacturer DJI Innovation and chip equipment manufacturer Zhongwei sued the US Department of Defense for alleged ties to the Chinese military

John Quinn, founding partner and renowned commercial litigation lawyer at Kunying Law Firm in the United States, said, "When the US government is so tough on Chinese companies in certain industries, intentionally making it harder for them to conduct business in the US, we will certainly see a decrease in investment by Chinese companies in these industries." He said that legal frictions or disputes seem to have increased, which is understandable, "because some Chinese companies have been punished and become targets of US law enforcement actions. Obviously, some of these companies have been forced to retaliate

The first case in which a Chinese company sued and won against the US government dates back more than a decade, when mechanical equipment manufacturer Sany Group sued the Obama administration. At that time, the Obama administration issued an executive order citing national security reasons to block the company's wind power project in Oregon, citing that the project was located near a military facility

After a US court ruled in favor of Sany Group in 2014, it posted on its official website that this was the first time Chinese manufacturing had taken up legal weapons and said no to US trade protectionism

According to reports, Quinn said that at the same time, Chinese companies have become more "international" in civil litigation and have become more confident in safeguarding their legitimate rights

I remember there was a time when Chinese companies would bury their heads in the sand when they encountered legal issues, pretending that the problem would pass. We rarely see this situation now, "Quinn said." Chinese companies are becoming increasingly confident in their role in the world and their ability to safeguard their legitimate rights