US Moves to Halt Use of Chinese Drones Citing 'Security Concerns'

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The U.S. government is pushing to ban the use of Chinese-made drones due to concerns that images captured by drones could be transmitted to China.

On the 12th (local time), a British economic media outlet reported that the U.S. Department of the Interior is pushing to suspend the use of 1,000 drones it owns. It is said that after concluding that Chinese-made drones or drones containing Chinese-made parts could be used by the Chinese government for intelligence purposes, the Department of the Interior decided to take this direction.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has been using drones for wildfire suppression, map making, and resource exploration. Last October, the Department temporarily suspended the use of Chinese-made drones for security reasons.

Concerns have also been raised about the significant additional costs the U.S. government would have to bear if the use of Chinese-made drones is banned. The temporary suspension alone has negatively affected the response capabilities of various agencies. In this regard, the Department of the Interior is considering allowing the use of Chinese-made drones only in exceptional cases such as wildfire suppression and training.

The U.S. military has already banned the use of drones made by the Chinese company DJI. Additionally, the U.S. Congress is considering measures to prohibit the use of government funds to purchase Chinese-made drones. The U.S. government has been promoting the development of drones made entirely in the U.S., but it is expected to take several years to achieve this.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is requesting restraint in the use of Chinese-made information and communication technology (IT) equipment not only in the U.S. but also among its allies. Recently, the British government has been pressured to ban the use of Chinese Huawei equipment related to 5G technology. According to major foreign media, a delegation including Matt Pottinger, Deputy National Security Advisor at the U.S. White House National Security Council (NSC), will visit the UK to prevent the decision to use Huawei products. The U.S. has threatened to halt some information sharing if the UK uses Huawei equipment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.