DJI—Tibet Watch report found Chinese police deploying DJI drones for 'stability maintenance' surveillance across occupied Tibet
An investigative report by Tibet Watch, with research support from C4ADS, analyzed Chinese government procurement tenders, contract awards, police bulletins, flight bans, and training records to document an extensive drone surveillance and counter-drone network built across the Tibet Autonomous Region. Security agencies from regional anti-terror units down to county police stations have acquired DJI equipment, with pilots trained for 'stability maintenance' (weiwen) - the CCP term for suppressing dissent - echoing DJI's 2017 training of police in Xinjiang for similar purposes. The report found authorities closed airspace over Lhasa and four other prefecture-level areas to unapproved flights and, since May 2026, require all newly manufactured drones in China to be registered to the owner's identity.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoritarian Compliance | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Surveillance Technology | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.429 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (1 signal)
Tibet Watch/C4ADS report documents DJI drone procurement by Chinese security agencies across Tibet
Tibet Watch, with research support from C4ADS, published 'Eyes Above the Plateau: Drones, DJI, and the Aerial Architecture of Control in Tibet,' documenting via Chinese government procurement tenders, contract awards, police bulletins, and training reports that security agencies across the Tibet Autonomous Region acquired DJI drones for 'stability maintenance' surveillance.