DM Monitoring
NEW DELHI: China said on Tuesday that India’s move to ban 59 Chinese-origin mobile apps could be a breach of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, and urged New Delhi to create an open and fair business environment.
“India’s measure selectively and discriminatorily aims at certain Chinese apps on ambiguous and far-fetched grounds, runs against fair and transparent procedure requirements, abuses national security exceptions and (is suspected of) violating WTO rules,” Ji Rong, spokesman at the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, said in a statement.
India banned the apps on Monday, its strongest move against China in the online space since fighting erupted on the two countries’ border this month. Rong said the ban would affect Indian jobs, and urged India to treat all investments and service providers equally, and create an open, fair and just business environment. India on Monday banned 59, mostly Chinese, mobile apps including Bytedance’s TikTok, Alibaba’s UC Browser, and Tencent’s WeChat citing security concerns, the government said in a statement on Monday.
The apps are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”, the ministry of information technology said. The ban comes after a deadly border conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations earlier this month in which 20 Indian soldiers have died.
“The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking it’s power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps since in view of information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order,” the press release said. India’s Minister for Electronics and Information Technology and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the step was taken for “safety, security, defence, sovereignty & integrity of India”.
An Indian ban on dozens of Chinese apps following a border clash between the two nations has possibly derailed a $1 billion India expansion plan of China’s ByteDance, while also sparking an uproar from users of its popular TikTok video app.
TikTok was blocked on Google and Apple app stores in India after New Delhi said on Monday night it was among the 59 apps which it believed posed a “threat to sovereignty and integrity”.
