China says US offered no proof that TikTok threatens national security

China said Thursday that Washington has not provided any evidence that the popular video-sharing app TikTok is a threat to US national security.

"The US has yet to prove with evidence that TikTok threatens its national security," Anadolu Agency reported Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin as saying in a news conference in Beijing.

Wang accused Washington of spreading disinformation and suppressing TikTok. 

The US should "stop spreading disinformation about data security, stop suppressing relevant companies, and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for foreign businesses to invest and operate in the US," he said.

Beijing's concern over Washington's possible moves against the video-sharing app came after TikTok’s Chinese owners said the Biden administration had asked them to sell their shares or risk a ban on the app in the US, according to a New York Post report.

"China always believes that data security should not be used as a tool to abuse the national security concept and state power to hobble foreign companies," Wang said, according to a transcript of his news conference. 

It reported that 60 percent of TikTok parent company ByteDance’s shares are owned by global investors, 20 percent by employees and 20 percent by its founders, citing TikTok executives.

Meanwhile, TikTok is in talks with potential buyers following the threat from the US government, according to a source quoted by New York Post.

Among the options being explored include potential deals that were under consideration when former president Donald Trump threatened to ban the app in 2020.

The source did not provide additional details about what other deals are under consideration but pointed out that a proposal under the Trump administration was for software giant Oracle, owned by billionaire Larry Ellison, and Walmart to partner to own a US TikTok subsidiary that would control all US user data.

Last week, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the White House supports an effort in the US Congress to pass legislation granting new authorities to address threats posed by foreign technology, such as TikTok, to the United States.

Sputnik reported that the legislation, according to the White House, would empower the US government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services operating in the United States in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and US national security. The legislation comes amid concerns about ties between TikTok and the Chinese government.

The ban on TikTok and WeChat was part of a long-running diplomatic and trade war waged by the Trump administration against China prior to Biden’s term, which began in January 2021.

- Bernama

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