Reporting by XinZhiyuan
Editor: Good sleepy Yuan Xie
DJI: Suspend sales in countries affected by the conflict.
On April 26, DJI announced that it would temporarily suspend operations in Russia and Ukraine.
Make sure it won't be used in combat
DJI said it is currently reassessing compliance requirements in various jurisdictions internally, during which time all commercial activities in Russia and Ukraine will be temporarily suspended.
In addition, DJI is engaging with customers, partners and other stakeholders regarding the temporary suspension of business operations in affected regions.
Earlier, on April 21, DJI issued a statement reiterating its position on the military use of drones.
DJI has long produced only civilian products, which are not designed for military applications. DJI opposes any use of these products to cause harm.
DJI will not market or sell its products for military purposes;
DJI does not provide after-sales service for products identified as being used for military purposes;
DJI explicitly opposes attempts to install weapons on products;
DJI refuses to customize or enable modifications that would enable the product to be used for military purposes.
The remainder of the statement reads as follows:
DJI was founded 15 years ago to explore new possibilities in drone technology.
From the initial attempts to build small helicopters to the latest state-of-the-art drones for professionals, DJI's power comes not only from the technical challenges of robotic innovation, but also from how this new technology can help people.
With each improvement and advancement, DJI's drones have helped make the world a better place.
DJI's products enable people to see our world in new ways, providing creators with a new language of storytelling, new business and job opportunities, new technologies for growing food and protecting the environment, and new capabilities to respond to emergencies. DJI's drones protect endangered species, protect global landmarks from destruction, and save lives around the world.
DJI strongly believes in these four principles.
If DJI's business partners fail to comply with these principles in the sale and use of products, DJI will terminate their business relationships with them.
DJI is committed to creating products that benefit society and will never accept any use of DJI products to cause harm.
Awkward situation
DJI's statement was sincere, but the situation was awkward.
It is possible to make hard restrictions on the code of the controller and flight software so that DJI 4WD drones do not serve as "hardware payload launch platforms", that is, mini unmanned bombers/attack aircraft in the vernacular.
But cheap drones that can carry camera equipment are hard not to be widely used by the armed forces of states or quasi-state entities around the world.
In recent years of armed conflict, even without customization or modification, cheap camera drones have been widely used in artillery calibration, dynamic reconnaissance, and outcome assessment.
This will bring additional trouble to DJI.
Now the public and governments around the world are interested in making more restrictions on the flight and use of even completely civilian small drones, if there are more examples of small drones in the field, it is difficult not to change from civilian products to military and civilian dual-use items in the import and export positioning of countries.
The cost and complexity of the export compliance and due diligence mechanism of military and civilian dual-use goods are far from being comparable to those of civilian products.
Just like the same pesticide matrix, the approval and review process for selling to Canada and selling to Lebanon is completely different. Because it is sold to the latter, it is difficult not to be resold to other malicious buyers and become the raw materials for local poisonous gas
Resources:
https://www.dji.com/newsroom/news/dji-statement-on-military-use-of-drones
https://www.dji.com/newsroom/news/dji-statement-on-sales-compliance-efforts