China, Which Has Not Been Willing To Give Up TikTok, Has Fallen To The US

JAKARTA - President Trump has approved the business deal between ByteDance and Oracle for TikTok operations in the United States (US). But on the other hand, the Chinese government has not been willing to let go of its social media platform.

In an editorial column published in the China Daily, the Chinese government said it had no reason to agree to a deal which it called "dirty and unfair" and based on "bullying and extortion."

"What the United States is doing to TikTok is almost like a gangster forcing an unreasonable and unfair business deal against a legitimate company," wrote local media reports in China, as quoted by Reuters, Thursday, September 24.

They argue that TikTok's success has left the US feeling insecure, and are using national security reasons to have the platform shut down. Moreover, the short video application has generated revenues of more than 1 billion US dollars throughout 2020.

"ByteDance will not only lose control of the company, but also the core technology they create and own," he continued, referring to the TikTok algorithm.

So far, ByteDance and Oracle have issued conflicting statements regarding the fate of TikTok in the US. In which ByteDance said it would create a subsidiary called TikTok Global and they would have an 80 percent stake.

Meanwhile Oracle and Walmart said the majority of TikTok Global's ownership would be in the hands of US companies, following an August 14 executive order asking ByteDance to give up ownership of TikTok within 90 days.

As previously reported, President Donald Trump stated that US companies must fully take full control of TikTok Global shares. Although it will not be approved by the Chinese government.

Trump stated that if what ByteDance said was true, the deal would be canceled. "They will have nothing to do with it. If so, we will not make a deal," said Trump.