US Republicans urge Pentagon to flag Xiaomi, DeepSeek for risks

Nine Republican US lawmakers have urged the Pentagon to add more than a dozen Chinese companies, including DeepSeek and Xiaomi, to its Section 1260H list of firms allegedly linked to China’s military.

The request was made in a letter sent this week to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, shortly after the signing of a US$900 billion military spending bill that restricts US investment in Chinese tech companies.

The lawmakers also named firms such as Wuxi AppTec, BOE Technology Group, Unitree Robotics, and others.

Being placed on the Pentagon list does not trigger an immediate ban, but signals risks to US entities and may lead to further restrictions.

The list was last updated in January 2025 and already includes Tencent and CATL.

🔗 Source: South China Morning Post

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Lawmakers want additions to the Pentagon’s Section 1260H identification list, which names Chinese firms alleged to have military ties, and the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act links that list to procurement limits in biotech via the BIOSECURE Act 1 2. The list does not impose sanctions or contracting bans on its own.

The BIOSECURE Act, a federal framework that restricts agency purchases of certain biotech products and services, uses Section 1260H for automatic flags of biotechnology companies of concern, plus an Office of Management and Budget (OMB)-led process with set criteria 1.

For entities named via Section 1260H that touch biotechnology equipment or services, federal executive agency purchasing bans start 60 days after the Federal Acquisition Regulation is updated by the FAR Council, the interagency body that maintains the Federal Acquisition Regulation 1.

The NDAA also widens the outbound investment regime to cover hypersonic systems and high performance computing or supercomputing 3 2. It adds Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela, with US Department of the Treasury power to block covered deals that does not depend on Section 1260H 3 2.

Net effect is that new Section 1260H entries in biotech can trigger BIOSECURE limits, while non biotech firms on Section 1260H do not face BIOSECURE only due to that status 1 2.

2024 forecasts put BOE Technology Group at about 45 million iPhone Organic Light Emitting Diode panels and 31 million units to Huawei 4. Tianma Microelectronics is pegged at roughly 1 million units to Samsung, and 13 million to Xiaomi 4.

BIOSECURE contracting limits target biotechnology gear and services, so federal buys of display panels from BOE or Tianma continue unless those lines fall within the Act’s biotech scope 2. The NDAA sets a plan to end Department of Defense sourcing of computer displays from foreign adversary nations by 2030 2.

Compliance timing in biotech will drive shifts 5 1. The Office of Management and Budget must publish an initial list within one year of enactment, issue guidance within 180 days, then the FAR Council must amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation 5 1. Prohibitions take effect 60 to 90 days after those updates, with a five year transition for existing contracts, and a maximum outside timeline near 970 days for some restrictions 5 1.