BEIJING: China urged the United States to stop “unreasonably suppressing” TikTok on Thursday, after Washington gave the popular video-sharing app an ultimatum to part ways with its Chinese owners or face a nationwide ban.
It came as the UK announced a security ban on the video app on government devices, in line with action by Washing-ton and Brussels.
Britain joins the US and EU in taking an increasingly firm approach towards the platform, owned by the Chinese firm Bytedance, citing fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.
The White House was reported on Wednesday to have told the app that it will be banned in the United States if it con-tinues to be owned by the Beijing-based tech firm. A TikTok spokesperson told media that “calls for a ban or divestment are unnecessary”, insisting that “the best path forward to addressing concerns about national security is transparent, US-based protection of US user data and sys-tems.”
Beijing also hit back against the ultimatum, urging Washington to “stop unreasonably suppressing” TikTok.
“The US has so far failed to produce evidence that TikTok threatens US national security,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing.
“Data security issues should not be used as a tool for some countries to overstretch the concept of national security, abuse state power and unjustifiably suppress other countries’ enterprises,” he added. -Agencies
