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| Reuters: China would rather close Tik Tok in the US than sell it |
Citing three people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported on Friday that Beijing opposed the forced sale of Tik Tok business in the United States by Chinese owner ByteDance and agreed to stop short video apps in the United States. .
Since US President Donald Trump threatened last month to block the service if no agreement was reached, ByteDance has been negotiating to sell the US company TikTok to potential buyers, including Microsoft and Oracle. Trump gave ByteDance a deadline in mid-September to close the deal.
Sources said Chinese officials believed the forced sale would leave Bitance and China vulnerable in the face of Washington's pressure. Reuters said he declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation.
ByteDance said in a statement to Reuters: The Chinese government has never recommended the closure of TikTok in the United States or any other market.
Two sources say China is ready to take advantage of the changes to the technology export list on August 28 to delay a deal struck by ByteDance.
When asked about Trump and TikTok on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Legian responded at a regular press conference: The United States is misusing the concept of national security and urges the United States to stop taking strict measures against foreign companies.
Reuters previously reported that potential buyers of TikTok were discussing four approaches to acquiring ByteDance. One way is to sell US TikTok assets without the main algorithm without approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
US officials have criticized TikTok's security and privacy, indicating that user data may be shared with Beijing. The company said: It will not meet any requirements for sharing user data with the Chinese authorities.
Beijing said it strongly denied Trump's executive order, and on August 28 provided its views on the process and revised the list of technologies that the Chinese government must approve of before exporting. Experts say the recommendation algorithm for TikTok won't be on this list.