Beijing:

China on Thursday lashed out at a U.S.-approved bill that would ban TikTok unless it severed ties with its Chinese parent, denouncing Washington’s “gangster” mentality and vowing that Beijing would “take all necessary measures” to protect Chinese companies. overseas interests.

The short-video app has surged in popularity around the world, but its ownership by Chinese tech giant ByteDance and its alleged subservience to Beijing’s ruling Communist Party has stoked concerns in the West.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would force TikTok to spin off from its parent company or face a nationwide ban.

The bill has yet to pass the Senate and is expected to face tougher tests before becoming law.

“The United States should earnestly respect the principles of market economy and fair competition and stop unfair suppression of foreign companies,” Beijing Ministry of Commerce spokesman He Yadong said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

He added that Washington should also “provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies to invest and operate in the United States.”

China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

“The Robber’s Logic”

At a separate news conference on Thursday, Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the vote “violated the principles of fair competition and international economic and trade rules.”

“If outstanding companies from other countries can be arbitrarily suppressed on the grounds of so-called national security, there is no fairness or justice at all,” Wang said.

“When you see something good in others and want to take it for yourself, this is completely the logic of a bandit.”

Before the vote, Beijing warned that the proposed ban would “inevitably come back to affect the United States.”

U.S. lawmakers passed the proposed law by a vote of 352 to 65, a rare moment of unity in politically divided Washington.

The White House said President Joe Biden would sign the bill – formally known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Controlled Apps Act – into law if it reaches his desk.

But it faces a tricky path in a more cautious Senate, where some are wary of taking tough measures against an app with 170 million U.S. users.

TikTok has always denied that it is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

Its chief executive Shou Zi Chew urged users to speak out against the vote, and several TikTok creators interviewed by AFP also expressed opposition to the proposed ban.

chronic tensions

The app is at the center of long-standing tensions between China and the United States, which have clashed in recent years over technology, trade and human rights issues.

Washington has restricted the activities of some Chinese companies in the United States and the export of certain technologies it considers sensitive to China on the grounds of national security.

Beijing has repeatedly lashed out at what it sees as concerted attempts to “suppress” China’s rise.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this month that Washington’s “desire to accuse under any pretext has reached an incredible level”.

“The means to suppress China are constantly being updated, and the list of unilateral sanctions is constantly expanding,” Wang Yi told a news conference on the sidelines of the annual political conference in Beijing.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)