China warns TikTok ban would ‘come back to bite’ Washington

Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier called proposed ban ‘act of bullying’

China warned the US that a ban on TikTok would “come back to bite” Washington as lawmakers approved a bill on Wednesday that could lead to the Chinese-owned video-sharing app being banned nationwide.

Ahead of Wednesday’s vote by the US House of Representatives, the Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the proposed ban, calling it an “act of bullying.”

“Although the United States has never found evidence that TikTok threatens US national security, it has not stopped suppressing TikTok,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

He said a ban on the app “disrupts companies’ normal business activity, damages the confidence of international investors in the investment environment, and damages the normal international economic and trade order”.

“In the end, this will inevitably come back to bite the United States itself,” Mr Wenbin said, according to AFP.

US lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have long expressed concern about the Byte Dance-owned app, citing national security concerns.

Republican and Democrat lawmakers from many US states have expressed concerns that the Chinese government could force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to hand over the data of US citizens using the app.

TIkTok’s owner Byte Dance has however rubbished such claims.

Now, the bill passed in the US House into the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act with bipartisan support may lead to a nationwide ban of the app.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the bill passed on a 352-65 vote with 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voting in opposition.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is unclear whether it may pass with enough support.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said he would consult with relevant committee leaders to see “what their views would be” regarding the bill.

President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

If the bill were signed into law, it would ban TikTok from US app stores unless the video-sharing platform – used by over 170 million Americans – is sold by ByteDance within a stipulated time of about six months.

The social media app’s chief Shou Chew said the company has invested in keeping user “data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation.”

Mr Chew warned that if the bill were to be passed into law, it could impact hundreds of thousands of American jobs and take “billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses.”