China Prefer Closed TikTok In The US Over Sale

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Beijing opposes the forced sale of TikTok operations to US companies. According to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, they prefer to see the short video application closed in the US rather than having to be forced to sell it.

ByteDance has been in talks to sell its US TikTok business to Microsoft and Oracle. President Donald Trump has given ByteDance a September 15 deadline to finalize the deal.

But Chinese officials believe the forced sale will make ByteDance and China appear weak in the face of pressure from Washington, according to a Reuters source, quoted on Sunday, September 13. ByteDance in a statement told Reuters that the Chinese government had never suggested shutting down TikTok in the US or in any other country.

Two sources said China is using its technology export policy, drawn up on Aug. 28, to delay any deal reached by ByteDance, if necessary. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the US was abusing the concept of national security, and urged it to stop oppressing foreign companies.

TikTok is not yet willing to sell the company

On the other hand, the Chinese internet giant is continuing its efforts to avoid selling TikTok operations in the US. But TikTok is at the center of a diplomatic "storm" between Washington and Beijing.

Especially since President Trump gave a deadline to stop doing business with TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, which is being pushed to sell the app's operations to US companies.

TikTok, which has been downloaded 175 million times in the US and more than a billion times worldwide, has filed a lawsuit against the US government's crackdown. The lawsuit alleges that Trump's order blames the Act because the platform is not an "unusual and extraordinary threat."

TikTok, which is used by more than one billion people worldwide to create unique short-form videos on their phones, has repeatedly denied allegations of data sharing with Beijing.