The new episode of the technological struggle between superpowers has not gone down well in Beijing. This Thursday, China forcefully rejected the US proposal to ban TikTok, the popular video application owned by a company from the Asian giant. The bill approved on Wednesday by the United States House of Representatives, which requires the Chinese parent company Bytedance to sell the platform if it does not want to face a veto in this country, is “contrary to the principle of fair competition” and “to the international trade rules. China considers that this challenge involves trying to appropriate something good that belongs to others and follows a “gangster logic,” according to Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a routine appearance this Thursday.
Although, to be implemented, the regulation must still be approved in the US Senate – and it is not clear that this will happen – the Asian giant has come out in force to defend its position: “If national security reasons can be used to “arbitrary suppression of prominent companies from other countries, then there is no equity or justice at all,” Wang protested. “The United States must seriously respect the principles of market economy and fair competition; stop unjustifiably repressing companies from other countries and offer open, fair and equitable conditions for companies from around the world to invest and operate there,” He Yadong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, also added this Thursday in another appearance. He added that China will take all necessary measures to “resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”
For the People’s Republic, this new battle, which is part of the growing struggle between Beijing and Washington for technological dominance and suspicions regarding national security and espionage, shows Washington’s double standards: “The US management of the incident of TikTok will allow the world to see more clearly whether the so-called rules and order of the United States are beneficial to the world or if they only serve the United States,” Wang stressed in a common speech by the Chinese leadership.
Beijing also rejects that the alleged threats to national security put forward by the US legislator have been proven. “In recent years, even though the United States has never found any evidence that TikTok poses a risk to American national security, it has never stopped pursuing TikTok,” Wang argued on Wednesday when questioned about this issue, hours before. after the House of Representatives passed the bill. “This practice of resorting to hegemonic maneuvers when fair competition cannot be successful disrupts the normal functioning of companies, undermines the confidence of international investors in the investment environment, sabotages the normal economic and trade order in the world and “It will end up turning against the United States,” he stressed.
TikTok, the international version of the Chinese video app Douyin, has 170 million users in the United States. Shou Chew, CEO of the company, addressed them through a video released after the step taken on Wednesday by the Chamber. He criticized a process full of “misinformation”, adding: “We have invested in keeping your data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation.” He has also assured that the ultimate goal is the ban of the social network, and that it will be another “handful of technology companies” that will end up controlling the business, putting nearly 300,000 American jobs at risk.
The congressmen, who received classified information before the vote about the risks that the platform represents to national security, fear that China could exercise its prerogative to force ByteDance to share the data of TikTok users. This information could be used to identify sensitive intelligence targets or to mount disinformation campaigns capable of influencing the November elections.
Follow all the international information on Facebook y Xor our weekly newsletter.
to continue reading
_