China calls US ban of TikTok 'bandit logic', vows to protect interests
3 Min Read
If US President Joe Biden passes the bill, TikTok’s owner ByteDance would be allotted around six months to separate from US assets or see its video-sharing app banned in the US.
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The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, California, on March 17, 2023. (AP)
China has labeled the US as having "bandit logic" after Congress passed a bill to ban TikTok if it didn't separate from Chinese parent company ByteDance.
China vowed to "take all necessary measures" to protect its companies overseas.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that the decision is “entirely the logic of a bandit," adding, “The US House of Representatives passing this bill lets the United States stand on the opposite side of the principles of fair competition and international trade rules.”
He continued, “If so-called national security reasons can be used to willfully suppress other countries’ superior companies, there would be no fairness to speak of.”
If US President Joe Biden passes the bill, TikTok’s owner ByteDance would be allotted around six months to separate from US assets or see its video-sharing app banned in the US.
US Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers said the legislation has “given TikTok a clear choice.”
“Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP [the Chinese Communist Party], and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences,” she said. “The choice is TikTok’s.”
The bill's fate is less assured in the Senate. Some Senate Democrats have vocally opposed the bill, citing free speech issues, and have proposed solutions to address concerns about foreign influence on social media without expressly targeting TikTok.
“We need curbs on social media, but we need those curbs to apply across the board,” according to Senator Elizabeth Warren.
A whopping loss
In a statement last week, TikTok took a jab at the US government for trying to rid 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to freedom of speech.
"This legislation has a predetermined outcome: A total ban of TikTok in the United States. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression," TikTok said.
The platform stressed that the bill going into effect would affect and harm businesses while taking the audience away from artists and impacting the livelihoods of numerous creators nationwide.
The video app revealed that it has proposed an agreement to route and store all US user traffic and data in a United States Data Security (USDS) division with the servers being maintained and audited by Oracle Corporation.
Read more: China could use TikTok to 'influence' US elections, spy chief says
The app also came under severe attack from within the Democratic and Republican parties and was called a "surveillance tool" for China.
TikTok has constantly denied sharing data with the Chinese government and has stated that it would not do so if requested.
The banning of TikTok in the US could leave a market worth around $431 billion to be tapped by three American tech giants, as Washington's pressure mounts over the social media app, according to a report by Forbes.
