Hegseth’s Blacklists Target Academia & Cleantech, Not National Security Threats

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Last week, I started writing about blacklists from the US Military that were posted and retracted multiple times or leaked. As they did not stay official, it was a bit of a stop-start, and I was reluctant to finish the article. Like terrorism, these lists are likely intended to create fear, and that fear destabilized stocks and scared students. Not wanting to contribute to that fear, I held back.

However, it might not just be a threat. These lists could come back. So it is important to understand that the changes are not about stopping national security threats. Some people might think that these lists are serious and justifiable if they do not look closer and understand what they are really doing. The blacklists represent attacks on academic institutions and clean technology, as well as attacking the shift of the Chinese economy away from state-run industry toward the private sector.

Elite Universities Under Fire

According to reports, “Military officers could soon find dozens of top colleges and universities across the United States abruptly off limits for tuition assistance,” as a part of Hegseth’s “campaign against schools he describes as being biased against the US military and sponsoring ‘troublesome’ partnerships with foreign adversaries.”

The self-styled “Secretary of War” has already gone after “woke” Harvard. Now, a leaked memo shows that he is not stopping there. The “Moderate to High Risk Schools” on a screenshot of the threatened blacklist include: American University, Boston College, Boston University, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Columbia University, College of William and Mary, Cornell University, Duke University, Emory University, Florida Institute of Technology, Fordham University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Harvard University, Hawaii Pacific University, Johns Hopkins University, London School of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Northeastern University, Northwestern University, New York University (NYU), Pepperdine University, Princeton University, Stanford University, Tufts University, University of Miami, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California (USC), Vanderbilt University, Wake Forest University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University.

Out of the Ivy League, only Dartmouth was left off the list. The majority of US presidents attended one of these institutions. Even Trump’s alma mater, University of Pennsylvania, is on the list. These are the top universities in the US, including the top-ranked engineering schools. They are not easy to get into, and they are not cheap. Revoking tuition assistance will put them off limits to many service members.

This “leak” could be intentional to threaten and intimidate. Or maybe it was accidental. It may be political, attacking the “elite” that many in the US scapegoat for their problems. Or it could be an unintentional leak of a half-baked idea from which people eventually would come to their senses.

Regardless of the “strategy” behind it, the schools on the blacklist represent some of the top universities where many of the brightest students attend and great minds instruct; where much of the most advanced research in the US is conducted, for both civilian and military applications. The businesses started by MIT alumni alone add up to be the 10^th largest economy in the world. This move will expand the education gap and the engineering talent gap, which already represent two of the largest economic and military vulnerabilities in the US.

Targeting Chinese Clean Technology and Private Sector Emergence, Not Actual Military Companies

The pentagon briefly published and pulled a greatly expanded “Chinese Military Company” blacklist, officially known as the Section 1260H list. Then it did it again. Being added to the list can lead to multiple sanctions. It is effectively a non-tariff trade barrier, which we will likely see more of after the recent Supreme Court ruling. If Trump sees a foreign company that he doesn’t like, he can just call it a national security threat.

Some companies on the list do have military connections, like COMAC, which is like the Boeing of China. But the new additions are much larger. We cannot be sure if this will become official. However, we can be sure that the additions are not focused on national defense. And the companies not added are as telling as the new additions.

Overall, the additions tend to be justified by some kind of affiliation with SASAC companies (State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council), even if it is indirect. Or they are justified by some kind of cooperation with regulatory department MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology), which is kind of like a combination of the Department of Commerce and Department of Transportation (which were once the same department in the US). Involvement tends to be similar to how GM works on programs with the DOT and almost all automakers in the US support NHTSA research. However, the connections are tenuous at best and do not explain why some companies are added and others are left out.

No SASAC or state-run automakers are on the list. ICE-centric Chery and Great Wall are not on the list. The only automakers on the list are private sector BYD and NIO, who only make vehicles with a plug.

You can make a convoluted argument about BYD supplying batteries for consumer NEVs to state-run SASAC automaker Changan, which also makes military vehicles (see image above). However, if that was truly your concern, you would target that SASAC automaker directly. Or you would target the much more closely affiliated 50/50 joint venture partner of Changan, Ford. Changan produces the 2025 Motor Trend SUV of the Year, the Lincoln Nautilus, which is imported into the US, while the US blocks EVs. Or you would target GM, Toyota, and Volkswagen for direct joint ventures with SASAC military vehicle manufacturer FAW. Or you would target Nissan and Honda for their ties to Dongfeng…. However, no ICE-centric automakers are touched, no state-run automakers are touched, and no automakers that also make military vehicles are touched. The blacklist is targeting private sector EV makers.

The majority of global EV and ESS battery production is also on the list — CATL, BYD, CALB, and EVE Energy. None of these are SASAC. None of them are military-focused, even though CATL has previously supplied ESS batteries to the US military. Batteries are targeted.

However, SASAC companies like Sinopec, PipeChina, and PetroChina are not on the list. They purchase oil, transport it, refine it, and distribute it. The only fossil fuel company that was on the list was CNOOC, which focuses on oil production, but it is now being recommended to be taken off the list. Companies that run filling stations are not on the list. However, Autel, which makes EV chargers and vehicle diagnostic equipment, was added.

China National Coal Group is an SASAC company, but it is not on the list, nor is any other coal mining or fossil fuel generation company. SASAC State Grid Corporation of China and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) are not on the list. These are public utilities, similar to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the US. However, China Three Gorges Corporation, the largest supplier of hydropower in the world, is on the list. Top public solar companies, like JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) and Trina Solar (SSE: 688599), are also targeted.

You can make an argument that companies that make LiDAR for self driving, like RoboSense and Hesai, could potentially have a military application for their products. But it is a bit of a stretch compared to many companies that are not on the list. Robotics companies like Unitree also pose relatively little military threat. The same goes for civilian drone company DJI. You can make a convoluted argument, but this is clearly more about targeting emerging private sector companies and emerging technology than it is about targeting security threats.

E-commerce giant Alibaba is added to the list, with roughly half of day-to-day payments in China going through their Alipay app. The other half tend to go through WeChat Pay from Tencent, also on the list. Baidu, the “Google of China,” is also added to the list. These are private sector companies. Their payment systems have taken power away from state-run banks. No state-run banks are on the list. The targeted private sector companies have media channels that have taken power away from state-run media, even if they are still restricted. No state-run media are on the list.

Unfortunately, you can make a convoluted argument that almost any company around the world is connected to at least one military somehow. Often multiple militaries, even if the connection is loose. It could be cooperation with a non-military regulatory agency of a government that also has a military. It could be supplying a military contractor with a product that is not a weapon. Every company that has ever shown up in TechBriefs or worked with a national laboratory could also be considered state-sponsored and connected to the US military. You could also argue that every company that sponsors research at state universities is connected. GM, which claims 1/3 of its global sales through Chinese state-run JVs with SAIC and FAW, but also has a US defense division, is more closely tied to both the US military AND the Chinese military than the private sector automakers added to the blacklist. Go far enough down the rabbit hole and virtually every company in the world could go on a military blacklist for one country or the other (or multiple, competing countries at the same time). However, the companies added to Hegseth’s list are clearly not due to legitimate national security concerns.

Power and Greed

Militaries need a lot of oil. The US military is the single largest consumer of oil in the world and consumes more hydrocarbons than most countries. Military offensives are difficult to power with solar. Hydroelectric dams are not very portable. Nobody is planning a ground invasion with a fleet of BEVs. If you wanted to target the energy needed for a military, you would target their fossil fuels. Instead, the Pentagon targets clean technology.

If you really wanted to go after state control and state-run industry, you would target state-run companies and support their private sector competition. That effectively takes power away from the state. Target those ICE-centric, state-run automakers and support their private sector EV competitors. Target the state-run coal plants and support the private sector solar manufacturers. Target the state-run banks and support the private sector online banks. Target the state-run petroleum refineries and support the private sector charging companies…. However, through a targeted attack on the rise of the private sector, US policies are attacking the competitive economic market forces that shift power away from the government.

And if you wanted a stronger military, you would want stronger minds in that military. Stronger engineering minds are more capable of coordinating the processes and advanced technology. Stronger leaders can pull from multiple different strategic approaches and perspectives. Stronger candidates are attracted to the military as a path to a top-tier education. Making the minds of the military weaker means a weaker military. But it also means people who are easier to control and less likely to question illegal orders.

Ultimately, these blacklists are about greed and power. Clean technology challenges fossil fuel profits. China becoming more capitalist creates competition for the elevated prices and inferior products of legacy companies. Legacy companies that resist change will not be forced to change. Stupid people become easier to control and more susceptible to the fallacies of fear and bigotry.

These policies sacrifice security and escalate tensions. Tensions will also rise if the impacts of climate change get worse. The blacklists weaken minds and markets. If people look beyond the blanket statements intended to stimulate fear, hopefully they will realize that they are being used.