Amazon allows Chinese military companies to profit off its online marketplace
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Entities that the U.S. government has designated as arms of the Chinese military freely sell their goods through Amazon’s sprawling online marketplace, both directly and through third-party vendors.
Since 2020, the Department of Defense has published an annual list of firms classified as “Chinese military companies.” The list documents corporations that are “directly or indirectly owned” or otherwise controlled by the Chinese military, according to federal law. “Military-civil fusion contributors to the Chinese defense industrial base,” corporations that knowingly collaborate with the Chinese Communist Party to develop military technology or serve as defense contractors, are also included under the designation.
A Washington Examiner review of Amazon Marketplace found that at least 11 entities on the DOD’s list have goods available for purchase. Hikvision, a Chinese video surveillance company that doesn’t appear on the Pentagon list but has been sanctioned by the Department of Commerce over its involvement in China’s repression of ethnic Uyghurs, also sells its products on Amazon.
Hikvision isn't alone. Multiple corporations involved in China’s Uyghur program, which Republican and Democratic administrations have described as a genocide, have products listed on Amazon.
Dahua, another company that manufactures video surveillance equipment and appears on the Pentagon’s list, has a sizable presence on Amazon’s online storefront. The company has contracted with the Chinese government to supply, develop, and operate surveillance systems used against Uyghurs. The firm has also received funding from the Chinese government, and its executives are affiliated with the CCP.
DJI, a major drone manufacturer that sells goods through Amazon and was designated by the Pentagon as a Chinese military company, has also supplied CCP authorities with surveillance tools used to target ethnic Uyghurs and has received investments from Chinese state-owned entities, earning it sanctions from the Treasury and Commerce Departments. Cybersecurity researchers found in 2020 that the app used to control DJI’s drones collects large quantities of personal information from its users that the Chinese government could use its power to access, the New York Times reported.
Autel Robotics, another drone manufacturer that appears on the DOD's list of Chinese military companies and sells goods on Amazon, has also received CCP subsidies, with the company’s founder describing the support as "indispensable oxygen” for the firm. Online job listings indicate that the firm sells its equipment to the Chinese military. Meanwhile, the House Select Committee on the CCP has accused it of participating in China’s Uyghur suppression operations.
Amazon has discretion over who can sell and what can be sold on its platform, a right it has exercised in the past. For instance, in 2015, Amazon prohibited the sale of Confederate battle flags on its marketplace. More recently, Amazon banned mouth tape, an adhesive product intended to aid sleep, on its storefront for safety reasons. Amazon did not respond to the Washington Examiner when asked why it has not exercised this discretion to bar the sale of goods manufactured by Pentagon-designated Chinese military companies.
Some of the CCP’s biggest supporters have a massive presence on Amazon Marketplace.
Dozens of products manufactured by Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications giant with extensive links to the CCP and People’s Liberation Army, are available on Amazon. The website is saturated with phones, watches, and other consumer electronics.
Huawei was included on the DOD’s initial Chinese military company list in 2020 following a flood of reporting on the firm’s relationship with the CCP. For instance, a study published in 2019 found “strong evidence” that Huawei works with Chinese state intelligence authorities and that its employees perform research for the CCP, according to the New York Times. A 2021 Washington Post investigation revealed that the telecommunication conglomerate's equipment was used by the Chinese government in service of its Uyghur repression program. Huawei has also been a key player in the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure project China uses to exert influence on developing nations.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which include a 145% tax on goods coming from China, have left many vendors who deal in Chinese goods panicking about the possible loss of business as they’re forced to increase prices. The tariffs are set to have the previously unreported impact of cutting into the profit margins of the Chinese military companies that use Amazon to sell their goods to Americans.
Media produced by Tencent, one of the most recent additions to the Pentagon’s Chinese military company list, is available via Amazon Prime Video. Unlike the consumer goods sold by other Chinese military companies, Tencent’s media products are unlikely to be affected. However, the software company's links to the Chinese government run deep.
Tencent co-founder and CEO Ma Huateng is a member of the CCP who served two terms as part of China’s National People’s Congress. WeChat, a text-based messaging service owned by Tencent, engages in censorship on behalf of the Chinese government, according to Human Rights Watch. Additionally, a 2017 report from the Chinese language media outlet Sina Tech found that Tencent employed over 7,000 CCP members.
Amazon, along with other large tech companies, has been jockeying for influence within the Trump administration while maintaining business relationships with CCP-linked firms. The Washington Examiner previously reported that Apple and Google, similar to Amazon, allow Chinese military companies to host software in their app stores.
The remaining Pentagon-designated Chinese military companies with a presence on Amazon include Baicells, CXMT, China Unicom, CATL, Sugon, and Quectel. Some of these firms, such as Tencent and DJI, have disputed their designations as Chinese military companies. Others, such as Hikvision and Dahua, have so far unsuccessfully tried to win back the favor of the United States by terminating some of their government contracts.
