Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has put Chinese companies in an increasingly precarious position as they attempt to preserve and expand their business with Russia while navigating what they hope will prove to be short-term disruptions.
DJI, the Chinese drone maker whose equipment is used by both sides in the Ukraine war, typifies those challenges after finding itself in the spotlight last week when a senior Ukrainian official urged the company to stop doing business with Russia.
Russian troops “are using DJI products in Ukraine in order to navigate their missile[s] to kill civilians”, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister, wrote in an open letter posted on Twitter. He demanded that DJI take a series of measures, including sharing more product information and blocking the potential use of its drones by Russian forces. “We call on your company to stop doing business in the Russian Federation until the Russian aggression in Ukraine is fully stopped,” Fedorov added.
While many western technology companies have responded positively…
