Inside China Tech: Chinese apps under fire
- The latest crack down on Chinese tech companies is likely to lead to a sharp escalation in the ongoing confrontation between Beijing and Washington
- Several Chinese-developed apps have been quietly removed from the Indian Apple and Google Play stores in recent days
Endgame for TikTok?
China may not agree with the US government’s forced sale of TikTok, but the short video app’s Beijing-based parent ByteDance does not have many other options, according to experts interviewed by reporters Coco Feng and Tracy Qu.
On Monday, President Donald Trump threatened to put TikTok “out of business” in the US if it was not sold by September 15, and by the end of the week our reporters were following up on more breaking news regarding TikTok as well as Tencent's WeChat app after Trump issued executive orders banning unspecified “transactions” with both apps.
The latest crack down on Chinese tech companies is likely to lead to a sharp escalation in the ongoing confrontation between Beijing and Washington.
In response to the forced TikTok sale, China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday that the move against TikTok was “a blatant act of bullying” and “complete political manipulation”.
However, the experts agreed that ByteDance has few options given the current situation – it can either sell TikTok, shut it down or legally challenge the US decision in court, with the latter option having little chance of success.