China Monday put its weight behind social media app TikTok’s move to mount a legal case against the US government.
“THEIR NATURE IS TO BULLY THE MARKET THROUGH DECEPTION”
Addressing a news conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: “US politicians’ attempts to kill Chinese firms such as TikTok, WeChat, and Huawei by forcibly putting ideological labels on them under the guise of national security show they are full of lies and slander; their nature is to bully the market through deception.”
Zhao, however, said the Chinese government supports the companies’ “decisions to take up legal weapons in order to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests,” daily Global Times reported.
The move comes after US President Donald Trump early this month signed two executive orders banning any transactions by US residents and companies with the TikTok and WeChat apps beginning Sept. 20.
“The spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Trump’s orders said.
However, ByteDance asserted: “Over the past year, we have earnestly sought to communicate with the US government, and provided solutions regarding its concerns. But the US administration disregarded facts, disobeyed necessary legal procedures, and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses.”