‘And ensure an open and non-discriminatory business environment’
Beijing urges the United States to listen to “rational voices” over the TikTok ban, amid a ban on China’s popular short-video app ByteDance coming into force on national security grounds. “We hope that the American side can seriously listen to rational voices and ensure an open, fair, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for all market participants from all countries operating in the United States,” the ministry spokeswoman said. Foreign Minister Mao Ning, during the daily briefing.
“TikTok has been active in the US for many years and is much loved by American users”, added Mao, according to whom the app “has played a positive role in promoting national employment and consumption”. TikTok restored service in the United States on Sunday after briefly going offline, crediting President-elect Donald Trump with making the turnaround possible.
On the hypothesis of an agreement proposed by Trump, the spokeswoman replied that as regards commercial operations and acquisitions, China “has always believed that such decisions should be made according to market principles and determined by the companies themselves. If companies are involved Chinese, then they should respect Chinese laws and regulations.”
As for criticism of the app’s ability to potentially collect and control personal data, Mao noted that “China has always attached great importance to the protection of privacy and data security. We have never asked and will never ask companies or individuals to collect or provide foreign data located in foreign countries in a manner that violates local laws.”
