China accuses U.S. of 'bullying' after House votes to ban TikTok

China accused the United States of bullying ByteDance after the House of Representatives passed a bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S.

HONG KONG — China accused the United States on Thursday of “bullying” and using national security as a “pretext” to suppress the Chinese owner of TikTok, after the House of Representatives passed a bill that could ban the app in the U.S.

The wildly popular video-sharing app is owned by China-based ByteDance, which under Chinese law is required to hand over information requested by the government. U.S. lawmakers worried that American users’ data could be compromised are considering legislation that would require ByteDance to either divest the app or see it banned from U.S. app stores.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the U.S. was “leveraging state power” against ByteDance despite failing to provide evidence that TikTok is a threat to its national security.

“If the pretext of national security can be used to suppress excellent companies from other countries arbitrarily, there is no fairness or justice to speak of,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

“Everyone can clearly see what is bullying behavior and what is tantamount to theft logic,” he added.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-accuses-us-bullying-house-votes-tiktok-ban-rcna143344

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