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ByteDance aims to proceed with TikTok deal in line with Chinese laws
ByteDance did not specify whether that deal would involve selling a part of TikTok’s operations in the US to American investors
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Ben Jiangin Beijing
ByteDance will proceed with a deal to keep TikTok’s operations in the US in line with “the requirements of Chinese laws”, the social media giant said in a Chinese-language post on WeChat early on Saturday, hours after a call between President Xi Jinping and American counterpart Donald Trump.
But in a subsequent English-language post on X, which is barred in China, the Beijing-based tech unicorn – owner of short video platforms TikTok and Douyin – thanked both Xi and Trump “for their efforts to preserve TikTok in the United States”, adding that the company would “work in accordance with applicable laws to ensure TikTok remains available to American users”.
Replacing “Chinese laws” with “applicable laws” in the English statement reflects the delicate balance ByteDance must maintain between the US and China to ensure that the TikTok deal proceeds.
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Still, the company did not specify in the two versions of its statement whether that deal would involve selling a part of TikTok’s operations in the US to American investors.
After his Friday call with Xi, Trump suggested a TikTok deal was sealed, but when pressed later, he stopped short of confirming that US investors would have full control of the app’s Chinese algorithm.
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“It’s all being worked out. We’re going to have very good control,” Trump said when asked if he would accept a deal where China controls the algorithm. He added that American investors, who were “very famous people”, would be in charge.
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