US sell-or-ban law against TikTok stirs unease in China as Beijing, social media giant ByteDance stay mum on next moves

The United States government’s passage of a sell-or-ban law against popular short video app TikTok has stirred unease and anger in mainland China, even as Beijing and social media giant ByteDance keep silent about their response.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law a legislative measure that would ban TikTok in America unless Chinese owner ByteDance divests the short video platform’s US business. Biden has set a January 19 deadline – one day before his term is to expire – but he could grant a three-month extension if he determines ByteDance is making progress.

An article published by the Beijing Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party’s Beijing Municipal Committee, said the measure against TikTok is tantamount to a “robbery” that would “completely destroy American national credibility, which is already flawed”.

While both Beijing and TikTok owner ByteDance have stayed silent on potential moves, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin on Wednesday referred media inquiries to his previous remarks about the US measure against the hit short video app. Wang had said the proposed ban amounts to bullying and “will inevitably come back to bite the US itself”.