Banning Chinese Drones is Common Sense and Necessary

Guest Opinion by Derek Chen, Candidate for Alabama State Auditor

Have you ever seen a drone flying above you at a sporting event or a concert? How about a drone flying near your house in your neighborhood? Drones are a new and evolving technology that policymakers should not ignore.

They are used in mapping/surveying, shooting commercials, delivering packages, and for entertainment. Whether we realize it or not, drones are all around us. But what if I told you the very drones that are all around us every day could be used to spy on us?

Today, DJI, a Chinese drone company, holds a 70–80% market share in the United States. How did this happen? A large reason is the cost.

A Chinese-made drone will usually cost a fraction of an American-made drone. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) heavily subsidizes Chinese drone production, and trust me, they are not doing so out of the kindness of their hearts.

The CCP has made it clear that undermining American dominance is its primary objective, and flooding the American market with its drones serves two purposes.

First, drone technology has dual military and civilian uses, and the American public is actively funding Chinese drone companies and future research and development.

Secondly, these drones are the perfect Trojan horse for the CCP to spy and collect information on Americans. As we all know, using civilian technologies to obtain backdoor access to American information is nothing new to the CCP.

This has not gone unnoticed in Washington, and President Trump’s administration is already taking swift action at the federal level; we should too here in Alabama. In June of 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order entitled “Unleashing American Drone Dominance”.

This executive order will strengthen our domestic drone production industry and counter the market dominance of Chinese-made drones in the United States. Additionally, the FCC recently announced that it is barring imports of new DJI drone models and critical components on national security grounds.

As your next State Auditor, I will work swiftly to counter this threat at the state level. The State Auditor’s office is tasked with overseeing the state’s physical property inventory. On day one, I will pursue a complete and total ban on all Chinese-made drones and their component parts from the State of Alabama’s property inventory.

As the American-born son of legal immigrants from Taiwan who immigrated to the United States to flee the threat posed by Communist China, I know firsthand the dangers posed by the CCP.

This action is necessary to protect the people of Alabama from the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party, and I am committed to doing so as your next Alabama State Auditor.

Derek Chen, a Vestavia Hills businessman and lawyer, is a Republican candidate for Alabama State Auditor. Born in the United States to legal immigrants from Taiwan, Chen is a long-time GOP activist and Donald Trump supporter.

For more information on Chen and his campaign, see https://www.derekforalabama.com or follow him on social media.

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