China denounced “thug methods” on Thursday after a vote in the US Congress which reinforces the threat of banning the Chinese application TikTok in the United States, in the name of national security.
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“If a so-called pretext of national security can be used to arbitrarily exclude successful companies from other countries, then there is no longer any fairness or justice,” Wang Wenbin, a door -spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“When someone sees a good thing from another person and wants to take it from them, these are definitely thug methods,” he added.
Beijing did not hide its anger Thursday the day after the adoption by the American House of Representatives of a bill which asks the network to cut all links with China.
This is a major development for the app, although the outcome of the upcoming Senate vote remains uncertain.
“The text voted on in the American House of Representatives places the United States against the principle of fair competition and international rules on economics and trade,” said Wang Wenbin.
“The United States must (…) stop pressure intended to unfairly exclude foreign companies” from its market, declared a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, warning that China “will take all measures necessary” to defend its businesses.
He did not specify what these measures could consist of.
“Great platform”
Shortly before the official Chinese reaction, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew called on its 170 million users in the United States to react. “Make yourself heard,” he said on TikTok and on the social network X after the vote, less than eight months before the November presidential election.
“We will not stop defending you and we will continue to do everything in our power, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform we have built with you,” he added.
The leader estimated that the law endangered “300,000 jobs” in the United States, threatening in particular to deprive “small businesses that depend on TikTok” of “billions of dollars” in revenue.
TikTok has been in the crosshairs of American authorities for several months, with many officials believing that the application of short and entertaining videos allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate American citizens.
The Chinese group fiercely contests these allegations, denies having transmitted information to the Chinese authorities and assures that it would refuse any possible request in this direction.
Uncertainty in the Senate
The text of the law, adopted by a large majority of 352 votes out of 432 elected officials, “does not ban TikTok,” argued the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries.
“It aims to resolve legitimate national security and data protection issues related to the Chinese Communist Party’s relationship with a social network,” he explained.
“This process was carried out in secret and the text presented urgently for one reason: it is a ban,” reacted a TikTok spokesperson to AFP.
The bill’s fate is uncertain in the Senate, where high-profile figures oppose such a sweeping measure against a hugely popular app.
The leader of the Democrats in the upper house, Chuck Schumer, simply took note of the vote on Wednesday, without commenting.
US President Joe Biden said that if passed in the Senate, he would sign the text into law.
The proposed law would require ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the app within 180 days or it would be barred from Apple and Google’s app stores in the United States.
No potential buyer has yet officially come forward.
