China May Walk Away From Selling TikTok To A U.S. Company, Raising Even More National Security Concerns
The Trump administration’s push to ban the Chinese owned video creation application TikTok has been a major problem for the Chinese Communist Party, which is accused of using the app for nefarious purposes to spy on its users.
The app has already been banned by the Pentagon for its potential to collect troves of information on its users.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated in July during a presser that data is from the application is sent to China. He stated during a British media interview, that if TikTok is banned, the data will not end “up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party,” which he characterized as an “evil empire.”
TikTok has denied the accusations of data mishandling but U.S. intelligence officials say that the company, owned by the Chinese government is using the popular application to infiltrate American networks, as well as collect information on individuals and families.
Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order giving the app’s parent company ByteDance 45 days to sell to a U.S. company or to suffer a full ban. That day is soon approaching.
Microsoft and Oracle have reportedly been in separate talks to purchase the app. However, China may walk away from any sale, according to Chinese state-owned news outlets.
China expert Gordon Chang suggested that China will ultimately “not allow” the sale to go through because it would mean exposing “how Beijing used the app to foment violent protest in America.”
Donald Trump Jr. questioned the app’s claims that TikTok is not controlled by the Chinese government. “Out of curiosity, if the Chinese government doesn’t control TikTok how is it that they can block the sale? Oh that’s right they’re lying as usual. Imagine an American company trying to pull of in China what TikTok/China is doing in America? They wouldn’t allow it for a second,” he said.
Senator Josh Hawley sounded off on TikTok’s nefarious ties to China, saying that the app’s own board members are also members of the Chinese Communist Party. Moreover, Hawley added, Beijing ‘requires by law’ the app to share its user data.
“Any sale, deal, or ‘tech partnership’ that fails to remove all links to #China is unacceptable,” he said.
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