China objects to the US federal ban on DeepSeek technology
China says it will defend its companies and opposes a wide use of national security as a cause.
A US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) order bans DeepSeek technology from the IT systems of federal civilian agencies. DHS issued it in July, and it became public on October 19, 2026.
Mao Ning is a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The spokesperson said China “will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.” The spokesperson added that China opposes the overstretching of national security. The comment follows the DHS order. The order says that federal civilian agencies must not buy DeepSeek products and services. It covers third party products built with DeepSeek models.
What the order says
DHS says DeepSeek servers are in China (the PRC). It says PRC law lets government cyber and intelligence functions use private company infrastructure. DHS also says DeepSeek hosted accounts collect personal data and possibly monitor users.
The proof
The source gives no test result and no incident. These are claims by DHS. DHS says prompts possibly send sensitive data to the PRC. It also says the models can contain malware or other vulnerabilities.
What is not known
China has not said what it will do next. The source does not say if DeepSeek replied. It does not say how agencies will find DeepSeek models in products from other vendors.
Insight: The two governments are building walls around AI
On October 16, 2026, China published a draft of its first export controls on AI. Use through an API (a software interface) is free of them. The US bars DeepSeek from federal systems. This looks like a wall on the two sides. Each government limits the AI of the other in its offices, and paid use stays open. Leaders must map where DeepSeek models sit in vendor products.
Sources
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