China's Response To The Ban On TikTok Et Al In India

TikTok application (unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Chinese government has spoken out regarding the many applications such as TikTok, UC Browser and the Mobile Legends game, which have been banned by the Indian government. This step is considered to violate the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

As reported, the blocking was carried out following the death of 20 Indian soldiers in clashes with Chinese troops on the Himalayan border. India's Ministry of Technology said the app was deemed unsafe because it compromised user data.

"Data collection disturbs India's national security and defense, a very deep concern that requires emergency action," said India's Ministry of Information Technology.

According to the spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, Ji Rong, the Indian government's action to block certain applications is very discriminatory. This is against the regulations in business cooperation between countries.

"The blocking of certain applications abuses the national security exceptions and (is suspected of) violating WTO rules," Ji Rong said, in the statement, as quoted by Reuters on Thursday, July 2.

"I want to emphasize that the Chinese government has always asked Chinese businesses to comply with international rules, local laws and regulations in their business cooperation with foreign countries," he said.

At least 59 Chinese-made apps have been banned from operating in India, including TikTok. The popular app has also denied allegations of sharing user data from India with the Chinese government.

"TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and does not share our users' information in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government," wrote a statement by company ByteDance regarding the block in India.

TikTok itself is quite popular among young Indians and has 120 million active users. Even so, it is still unclear when this ban will be implemented, because users in India can still access the TikTok application.