Chinese state media and businesspeople are outraged at Trump’s requirement that TikTok sell its U.S.-based operations. The China Daily called it “tantamount” to “an officially sanctioned ‘steal’ of Chinese technology,” while famous tech investor Kai-Fu Lee called it “inconceivable.”
After a few days of indecision, President Trump has settled on an ultimatum for TikTok: Either sell your U.S. operations to an American company in 45 days, or be banned. Microsoft is in negotiations to buy it, but there are many uncertainties.
While the news about Microsoft's potential acquisition of TikTok was a huge relief for its American users, it was received poorly on the Chinese internet, with many calling Zhang Yiming, ByteDance’s founder and CEO, a “spineless traitor” and a “despicable coward,” among other insults.
Will Washington force Chinese internet giant ByteDance to sell its globally popular video app TikTok to a U.S. company?
On the same day that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended his company by saying it is “proudly American,” and that it competes against China’s “version of the internet,” TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer slammed Facebook for copycat products and for attacks that are “disguised as patriotism.”
Mark Zuckerberg has to defend his company’s business practices in front of the U.S. Congress. Will he use the patriotism card to divert attention to TikTok and WeChat?
Could the collapse of TikTok in the American market come even faster than its meteoric rise? Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and now President Trump have said the U.S. government is “looking at” banning the app because of its Chinese ownership.
TikTok is now the only China-based app to gain significant traction overseas. As a result, its experience serves as a natural experiment in how foreign regulators react to such a situation.
Even as U.S.-China tensions escalate to levels unprecedented in the last four decades, three hard-charging Chinese internet companies are confidently expanding in America.