DJI Photo:VCG

DJI's lawsuit against the Pentagon could be an inspiration for Chinese firms to make use of legal weapons against unfair treatment by the US government, experts said on Sunday, after the Chinese drone maker filed a lawsuit on Saturday (Friday US time,) seeking to be removed from the blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies.

DJI, together with other Chinese companies, should firmly defend its rightful, legitimate interests against the US government's politicization and manipulation of related topics by using legal weapons, or the US government will only become more aggravated, which will lead to the sabotage of not only the business of the Chinese companies, but also the positive establishment of China-US economic ties, Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Li's remarks came after DJI filed a lawsuit to challenge the US Department of Defense, seeking to be removed from the blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies. The company said it has been dedicated to promoting the application of civilian drone products and opposes the use of its products for military purposes, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

According to DJI's complaint obtained by the Global Times, the Chinese drone firm said that the lawsuit challenges the Pentagon's decision to designate DJI as a "Chinese Military Company," because DJI is neither owned nor controlled by the Chinese military. 

The US Department of Defense applies the wrong legal standard, makes a number of factual errors, and engages in strained, attenuated reasoning, DJI said. 

The Chinese drone company said it sought to engage with the Pentagon in good faith for more than 16 months, but the latter's failure to meaningfully engage with DJI, and its refusal to provide any rationale for DJI's designation, left DJI with no reasonable choice but to pursue relief in federal court.

Chinese companies can learn from these experiences, let the US general public better understand the US' true colors over its violations of domestic and international laws, and push related US policies to return to a rational and healthy path, Li said.