U.S. Adds Tencent to Chinese Military Companies Blacklist

The Pentagon on Monday labeled Tencent, the Chinese social media and gaming giant, as a Chinese military business operating in the United States, the latest action in an escalating series of retaliatory moves between the world’s two superpowers.

Tencent’s shares in the United States plunged by nearly 10 percent after the decision by the Defense Department, which also targeted Chinese battery, drone and shipping companies.

The Defense Department updates annually a list of what it designates as “Chinese military companies,” entities it has identified as having both military and commercial technology. There are now 134 companies on the list, which was posted to the Federal Register. It also added Contemporary Amperex Technology Company, known as CATL, as well as China Overseas Shipping, known as COSCO; the chipmaker Changxin Memory Technologies; and the drone maker Autel Robotics. China Overseas Shipping is China’s largest shipping line and one of the biggest in the world.

Putting Tencent on the list was “clearly a mistake,” a spokeswoman for the company said in an emailed statement. “We are not a military company or supplier.”

Tencent also said that the listing would have “no impact on our business,” and that it would “work with the Department of Defense to address any misunderstanding.”

The designation is a warning to businesses in the United States that working with companies on the list could get them barred from future Pentagon contracts.