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China has issued a warning about the potential repercussions of a TikTok ban in the United States, stating it would “come back to bite the United States.”
The legislation under consideration in the Senate would require TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest the app or face a ban. Despite the warnings from the US intelligence community about the national security threats TikTok poses, China has accused the US of unfairly targeting the platform.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin criticized the US approach, stating, “Although the United States has never found evidence that TikTok threatens US national security, it has not stopped suppressing TikTok.” He further commented on the implications of such actions, saying, “This kind of bullying behavior that cannot win in fair competition disrupts companies’ normal business activity, damages the confidence of international investors in the investment environment, and damages the normal international economic and trade order.” Wang emphasized the potential self-harm to the US, “In the end, this will inevitably come back to bite the United States itself.”
Despite his campaign having a TikTok account, the White House has signaled that President Biden would sign the bill into law if passed by the Senate.
Former President Trump has expressed opposition to a TikTok ban, highlighting its potential to benefit Facebook, a company he has openly criticized. “Frankly, there are a lot of people on TikTok that love it. There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it. There are a lot of users,” Trump stated. He added, “There’s a lot of good and bad with TikTok. But the thing I don’t like is, without TikTok you can make Facebook bigger. And I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with the media.”
