China says US ban on TikTok will ‘undermine’ investor confidence

Beijing, Mar 23 (EFE).- China Thursday said a ban on the video application Tiktok by the United States would “undermine” the confidence of foreign investors, including from China, in the North American country.

The US has threatened TikTok’s parent company ByteDance that it would ban the application over a “threat to the national security.”

The White House has already asked all federal agencies to delete TikTok from all government devices.

President Joe Biden’s administration has reportedly threatened the Chinese owner that it would ban the social network if it does not sell its shares in the popular application.

TikTok recently confirmed the threat to The Wall Street Journal.

“China would strongly oppose (the ban),” Commerce Ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting was quoted as saying by Jiemian News.

Shu said the sale of TikTok shares “will be related to the technology export” in compliance with the “administrative licensing procedures and Chinese laws.”

She said any forced sale of TikTok’s operations would “seriously undermine the investor confidence from all countries, including China, to invest in the US.”

The White House recently gave US federal agencies 30 days to remove the TikTok social network from all government electronic devices.

The European Commission and the Council of the European Union have also prohibited their workers from using TikTok on official phones for security reasons.

Some critics accuse ByteDance of having links with the Communist Party of China.

TikTok has denied such allegations, saying it does not censor content or give the Chinese government access to its data. EFE

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