Xiaomi says legal challenge against US gov’t is to protect its interests

Xiaomi filed a complaint Friday seeking to be removed from a US government list that enumerates companies that are claimed to have links with the Chinese military. The smartphone manufacturer said the decision to include it in the list as a “communist Chinese military company” was “factually incorrect” and shared that it has reached out to courts to deem the move illegal.

The Beijing-based firm also said that 75% of the company’s voting rights were held by its co-founders Lin Bin and Lei Jun, with no ownership belonging to any individual or entity linked to the Chinese military.

The US agencies involved in the complaint added Xiaomi, as well as eight other companies, to the said list, which would required American investors in the Chinese firms to divest their holdings by a set deadline. The move comes after the US shelved plans to blacklist Chinese tech titan Alibaba, WeChat owner Tencent, and search engine Baidu.

Other companies in the list include Luokung Technology, Gowin Semiconductor, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, and Grand China Air.