US adds Alibaba, BYD and Baidu to Chinese military companies list

The United States has added Alibaba, BYD and Baidu to its list of companies it says have ties to the Chinese military. The Pentagon update was published on Monday and expands a blacklist that is used to flag firms considered to support China's military-civil fusion strategy. The move affects some of China's best-known commercial brands and comes at a sensitive moment in US-China relations.