China’s DJI stops drone sales to Russia, Ukraine
The world’s largest drone maker, DJI Technology Co. Ltd. (Shenzhen, China), has said it will suspend business in Russia and Ukraine, making it the first major Chinese company to halt sales into Russia because of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Consumer drones from DJI have reportedly been repurposed for military use by Russia. The move by DJI could signal a start of Chinese pressure to find an end to the conflict.
“DJI is internally reassessing compliance requirements in various jurisdictions. Pending the current review, DJI will temporarily suspend all business activities in Russia and Ukraine,” DJI said in a statement.
In general, Chinese companies have followed the Chinese government line of not criticizing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and have continued to do business with Russia. This is despite calls from the United States and many other countries to impose sanctions on Russia.
The suspension of business in Russia and Ukraine was: “not to make a statement about any country, but to make a statement about our principles,” Reuters reported a DJI spokesperson saying. “DJI abhors any use of our drones to cause harm, and we are temporarily suspending sales in these countries in order to help ensure no-one uses our drones in combat.”
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