Chinese Drone Maker DJI Sues Pentagon Over Military Designation Authored by Lily Zhou via The Epoch Times, Chinese drone giant DJI sued the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) on Oct. 18 for including the company in the department’s list of Chinese military companies. DJI, which makes up more than half of the U.S. commercial drone market, said it’s “neither owned nor controlled by the Chinese military.” The company also said it’s not a contributor to China’s military-civil fusion strategy or its military modernization. The China-based company argued that the DOD’s designation is “arbitrary and capricious” and asked a district court in Washington to order its deletion from the list. In 2021, Congress passed legislation requiring the Pentagon to compile a list of Chinese military companies operating in the United States. DJI was added to the list in October 2022. According to the DJI complaint, the Pentagon renewed the designation in January this year despite the company’s 16-month effort seeking removal from the list. The drone maker said the designation has “caused significant and ongoing harm,” reflected in canceled contracts and “pervasive stigmatization” of the company and its employees. The DOD did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by publication time. DJI’s affordable and powerful products are popular in the United States among hobbyists and in sectors including agriculture and search and rescue. The company has also been flagged by some U.S. government agencies—including Homeland Security, the Pentagon, the FBI, and the Treasury— as a national security risk and an alleged contributor to the Chinese communist regime’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang. DJI has denied all allegations, saying users can control how their data are handled and that the company doesn’t control how its off-the-shelf commercial products are used by customers. DJI’s legal challenge against the DOD’s listing

A corruption crackdown in Russia that had been focused on the country’s defense sector may be spreading to other parts of the country’s government, British officials said this week in their latest assessment of the Kremlin’s ongoing war with Ukraine.

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission. South Korea’s spy agency said Friday that North Korea had decided to send “large-scale” troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, with 1,500 special forces already in Russia’s Far East undergoing training. The National Intelligence Service, or NIS, released detailed satellite images it said showed a first deployment, saying it estimated the North could send around 12,000 soldiers in total. The North was spotted transporting its special forces troops to Russian territory on a Russian naval transport ship between Oct. 8 and 13, according to the NIS. North Korea and Russia have moved noticeably closer over the past year or more amid widespread suspicion that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. If confirmed, the move would be a rare foray by the long-isolated and nuclear-armed North into a foreign conflict. About 1,500 North Korean soldiers were transported during the first phase, using four amphibious landing ships and three escort vessels owned by Russia, the NIS said. These troops were moved from areas near the North Korean cities of Chongjin, Hamhung and Musudan to Russia’s Vladivostok, said the NIS, adding that a second phase of transport is expected to occur soon. They have been stationed across various locations in the Far East, including Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk and have been issued Russian military uniforms and weapons, according to the agency.  12,000 troops expected The NIS said that they are expected to be sent to the front lines once they complete their “adaptation training,” adding that it expects a total of 12,000 troops, including those from the country’s most elite military units, could be deployed.  South Korea’s presidential office