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by mightyham 588 days ago
Last month the U.S. House of Representatives voted to "bar new drones from Chinese drone manufacturer DJI from operating in the United States"[1], and even more recently there has been reports that customs is, using some arguably phony justifications, holding up imports of DJI drones[2].

While you are right that the US has not fully passed and officially enforced a country-wide DJI ban, saying that the US is "just" banning DJI usage by the dept of defense, ignores a number of developments suggesting that the US is in the process of a more expansive ban.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-votes-bar-new-dron... [2] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-customs-halting-some-dro...
2 comments
mightyham 588 days ago
I'll also add that earlier this year, the US put a number of Chinese consumer technology companies, including DJI, on a public blacklist that designates them as "Chinese military companies". This is a clear use of the United States' diplomatic power to hurt and discredit Chinese tech businesses. Whether the US should be doing that is another issue. At the end of the day these sorts events are a common biproduct of large power politics, but the point is that China's actions are not unwarranted.
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Spooky23 588 days ago
The house they always passes legislation that will never be implemented to support the base or send a message.

That signal only has meaning if the Senate or administration takes it up. For example, before the great flip of segregation advocates, the house passed legislation making lynching a federal crime for nearly 50 years. The Senate never allowed it to leave committee for a vote.

The meaning of the signal is unclear without understanding the dynamics. The MAGA idiots control it, so there’s a lot of performative legislation to keep the crowd occupied.

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mightyham 588 days ago
You would have to be naive to think that a house bill banning consumer drones is about "supporting the base". The prevalence of Chinese goods in the US is not a popular or even very partisan issue. The actions being taken against DJI has everything to do with the United States' strategic economic and military objectives.
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