Chinese megacorporation Tencent has doubled down on its claims that it is not a Chinese military company, saying that if the US Department of Defense does not “resolve any misunderstandings” it will “undertake legal proceedings”.
In a public statement – which the company said it makes “voluntarily” – it emphasized that the firm was “neither a Chinese military company nor a military fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base” and that while the allegation ” not affect [Tencent’s] business”, the United States Department of Defense made a “mistake” by publicly classifying the firm as a Chinese military company.
Initially, the company insisted that the listing was simply a misunderstanding, but this subsequent statement takes a much firmer line, saying: “The Company intends to initiate a Reconsideration Process to correct this error.
“During the process, it will engage in discussions with the US Department of Defense to resolve any misunderstandings and, if necessary, undertake legal proceedings to remove the company from the CMC List. The company will make further announcements as and when necessary . appropriate.”
As Tom reminded us when this first emerged last week, Tencent's reach in the global video game industry is enormous. It owns League of Legends developer Riot Games, Dune: Awakening maker Funcom, and British team Sumo Digital, as well as several of its own companies, including Pokémon Unite maker Timi Studios. It is also in talks with Ubisoft about a possible share purchase.