Beijing vows to retaliate for Washington's ban on TikTok, WeChat
Small toy figures are seen in front of a Tiktok logo in this illustration taken, Sept. 9, 2020. Reuters
China says it resolutely opposes the United States' ban on the Chinese-owned mobile apps Tiktok and WeChat and has vowed to take countermeasures.
America's actions had severely disturbed the companies' normal operations, hurt the confidence of global investors in US markets and undermined the global market order, the commerce ministry said in a statement issued on Saturday.
“China urges the US to abandon the hegemonic behaviour, to immediately stop the mistaken measures to maintain fair and transparent international rules and order,” it said.
“If the US insists on going its own way, the Chinese side will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese companies.”
The US commerce department on Friday announced the ban ― effective from Sunday ― on downloads of TikTok and WeChat from American app stores, citing national security concerns.
The provision of updates to existing versions of the two apps, as well as money transfers via WeChat ― one of its most popular functions ― would also be prohibited, the commerce department said.
A total ban on the use of TikTok is set to take effect on November 12, although US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Network on Friday that access to the app might be allowed after necessary safeguards were put into place.
Tencent, the owner of WeChat, said in a statement it was reviewing the US decision and would continue communicating with the US government.
“WeChat was designed to serve international users outside mainland China and has always incorporated the highest standards of user privacy and data security,” a spokesman for the company said on Friday.
“Following the initial executive order on August 6 we have engaged in extensive discussions with the US government and have put forward a comprehensive proposal to address its concerns.
“The restrictions announced today are unfortunate, but given our desire to provide ongoing services to our users in the US ― for whom WeChat is an important communication tool ― we will continue to discuss with the government and other stakeholders in the US ways to achieve a long-term solution.”
TikTok said in a statement late on Friday that it was disappointed with the decision and disagreed with it.
The company would “continue to challenge the unjust executive order” ― signed by US President Donald Trump on August 6 ― that requires ByteDance to sell its TikTok's US operation to an American company.
According to figures from analytics firm Sensor Tower, since the start of 2014, WeChat has been downloaded almost 22 million times by users in the US, while TikTok has been downloaded about 64 million times this year.