China would prefer TikTok shut down in US instead of sold to domestic company

Posted:
in General Discussion edited September 2020
The Chinese government opposes a sale of TikTok's U.S. operations and would rather see the video app shut down in the U.S., according to a new report.

Credit: Kon Karampelas
Credit: Kon Karampelas


In August, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would ban TikTok in the U.S. unless parent company ByteDance sold its operations in the country were sold to a domestic firm. Despite TikTok being in talks with firms like Microsoft, any deal must be decided by the Sept. 20 deadline.

Despite the ongoing negotiations, officials in Beijing believe that a forced sale would make both ByteDance and the Chinese government appear weak, Reuters reported on Friday.

Sources told the media outlet that China was considering using technology export restrictions to delay any deal reached by ByteDance. The TikTok parent firm, for its part, told Reuters that it hasn't seen any pressure by Beijing to shut down its U.S. operations.

When asked by reporters on Friday about TikTok and the impending ban, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that Trump was abusing the concept of national security to oppress foreign companies.

Reuters added that TikTok was discussing four different ways of structuring a deal, but did not provide any additional information on what those could be. On the other hand, ByteDance could push ahead with a sale without Beijing's approval by selling assets without key technologies covered by export restrictions.

TikTok in August filed a legal challenge to the Trump Administration's app ban, citing a lack of due process. On Thursday, ByteDance was also said to be in talks with the U.S. government to avoid a full sale.

Despite those alternative measures, ByteDance is reportedly still in negotiations with U.S. companies for a sale. Some likely candidates include Oracle, or a partnership between Microsoft and Walmart. In late August, TikTok's CEO stepped down, hinting that a deal or some sort of resolution was imminent.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    Because what other awful spying details would be uncovered by selling the company to a US buyer? I suspect a lot.
    Beatsmac_dogcornchipagilealtitudeelijahganantksundaramcat52watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 29
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    I suspect if any non-Chinese company got a hold of TikTok, some of China's dirty-laundry might be put out there for the world to see.
    Beatscornchipelijahganantksundaramcat52watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 29
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,310member
    Pretty sure that the PRC could just tell ByteDance to stop the sale and give up on the U.S. Market, but I suspect that the very suggestion of that is sufficient.
    elijahgcat52watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 29
    Because what other awful spying details would be uncovered by selling the company to a US buyer? I suspect a lot.
    sflocal said:
    I suspect if any non-Chinese company got a hold of TikTok, some of China's dirty-laundry might be put out there for the world to see.
    That doesn't really make any sense though.  If TikTok were to be sold to a US company, wouldn't the Chinese government, metaphorically speaking, sanitize TicTok with industrial bleach?  Wouldn't that be the first thing they did?  Seems to me the TikTok that Bytedance sold would be clean as whistle without a trace of the government left... cept the backdoors. :D :D
    muthuk_vanalingamredgeminipa
  • Reply 5 of 29
    Of course. Why would they want to give up their IP and users? Rather exit the US market. Let them use VPNs and what not to fake location if they really want in. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 29
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    Because what other awful spying details would be uncovered by selling the company to a US buyer? I suspect a lot.
    sflocal said:
    I suspect if any non-Chinese company got a hold of TikTok, some of China's dirty-laundry might be put out there for the world to see.
    That doesn't really make any sense though.  If TikTok were to be sold to a US company, wouldn't the Chinese government, metaphorically speaking, sanitize TicTok with industrial bleach?  Wouldn't that be the first thing they did?  Seems to me the TikTok that Bytedance sold would be clean as whistle without a trace of the government left... cept the backdoors. :D :D
    Better than suggesting they inject it. I think if Apple or any US company were being forced to sell Chinese operations to China; a) they would rather close or withdraw and b) there would be an anti-authoritarian uproar in the media - where’s that?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 29
    It would be an interesting precident. If TikTok were to cease operating in the USA, perhaps the EU might like to [cough][cough] suggest that Facebook etc stop operating in Europe because of security concerns. After all we all know that these companies are only in business to spy on us which they use to sling [redacted] adverts at us.
    GeorgeBMacredgeminipawatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 29
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    What is it taking so long ? India shut down over 177 Chinese Apps in hours, not days. Let China shut down Tik-Tok. Who cares ? Many from western world or Southeast Asia will develop similar App and we will forget about Tik-Tok was even exist.
    randominternetpersoncornchipcat52svanstromwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 29
    Facebook, Google use personal data maninly for profitable marketing and advertising purposes. But TikTok is a Chinese Government Trojan horse app that uses personal data and access to seek out ways to breach companies, governments, and schools for the purpose of spying on specific individuals and for stealing intellectual property. There is no other way China could have advanced so quickly from having very little to now being on par with the same military, space and computing capacity and technologies as the US. We’ve spent many decades developing concepts, testing & refining them, so they can steal in minutes of downloading. They do not want another US company to see the code used in TikTok because it will prove the truth. I don’t like Trump, but actions against China are critical to the survival of the US. I hope Biden has enough! Intelligence, energy and strength to continue and even amplify these efforts.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 29
    I suppose this is worth a 30B$ donation from Zuckerberg to China .....
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 29
    Wait a second, I thought Tik Tok is independent from the Chinese  communists? So if they cannot even be sold without Communist Approval, does anyone really believe they can say no when the communists ask for American Data? 

    Trump is right again?
    kknopp01n2macsanantksundaramcat52watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 29
    The worst part of this is people creating compelling apps then using them as spy weapons against their own users. 

    Good in the president for shutting it down. 

    Of course China doesn’t want to sell and have the inner workings exposed.  They want to find another way back in without anyone the wiser concerning what they are doing with the app. 
    cat52watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 29
    jcs2305jcs2305 Posts: 1,336member
    Fatman said:
    Facebook, Google use personal data maninly for profitable marketing and advertising purposes. But TikTok is a Chinese Government Trojan horse app that uses personal data and access to seek out ways to breach companies, governments, and schools for the purpose of spying on specific individuals and for stealing intellectual property. There is no other way China could have advanced so quickly from having very little to now being on par with the same military, space and computing capacity and technologies as the US. We’ve spent many decades developing concepts, testing & refining them, so they can steal in minutes of downloading. They do not want another US company to see the code used in TikTok because it will prove the truth. I don’t like Trump, but actions against China are critical to the survival of the US. I hope Biden has enough! Intelligence, energy and strength to continue and even amplify these efforts.
    But TikTok is a Chinese Government Trojan horse app that uses personal data and access to seek out ways to breach companies, governments, and schools for the purpose of spying on specific individuals and for stealing intellectual property. There is no other way China could have advanced so quickly from having very little to now being on par with the same military, space and computing capacity and technologies as the US.

    Can you please give us some links or back up to these accusations that you state, as though they are fact, specifically about the TikTok app?  I have my own opinions about the PRC government and stealing IP, spying etc.. but I would like to know where you got this info about Tiktok doing what you describe. This app is somehow gaining access to my iPhone 11 Pro Max and spying on me while I use the app a few minutes a week to watch some prank and sports video clips?

    There is a whole being said about China as fact with absolutely nothing to back it up.. I would like to have the info you and others seem to have?




    rob53cornchipGeorgeBMacredgeminipamuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 14 of 29
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    Fatman said:
    Facebook, Google use personal data maninly for profitable marketing and advertising purposes. But TikTok is a Chinese Government Trojan horse app that uses personal data and access to seek out ways to breach companies, governments, and schools for the purpose of spying on specific individuals and for stealing intellectual property. There is no other way China could have advanced so quickly from having very little to now being on par with the same military, space and computing capacity and technologies as the US. We’ve spent many decades developing concepts, testing & refining them, so they can steal in minutes of downloading. They do not want another US company to see the code used in TikTok because it will prove the truth. I don’t like Trump, but actions against China are critical to the survival of the US. I hope Biden has enough! Intelligence, energy and strength to continue and even amplify these efforts.
    This reads like a lawyer writing a case. LOL 
    GeorgeBMacmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 15 of 29
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    jcs2305 said:
    Fatman said:
    Facebook, Google use personal data maninly for profitable marketing and advertising purposes. But TikTok is a Chinese Government Trojan horse app that uses personal data and access to seek out ways to breach companies, governments, and schools for the purpose of spying on specific individuals and for stealing intellectual property. There is no other way China could have advanced so quickly from having very little to now being on par with the same military, space and computing capacity and technologies as the US. We’ve spent many decades developing concepts, testing & refining them, so they can steal in minutes of downloading. They do not want another US company to see the code used in TikTok because it will prove the truth. I don’t like Trump, but actions against China are critical to the survival of the US. I hope Biden has enough! Intelligence, energy and strength to continue and even amplify these efforts.
    But TikTok is a Chinese Government Trojan horse app that uses personal data and access to seek out ways to breach companies, governments, and schools for the purpose of spying on specific individuals and for stealing intellectual property. There is no other way China could have advanced so quickly from having very little to now being on par with the same military, space and computing capacity and technologies as the US.

    Can you please give us some links or back up to these accusations that you state, as though they are fact, specifically about the TikTok app?  I have my own opinions about the PRC government and stealing IP, spying etc.. but I would like to know where you got this info about Tiktok doing what you describe. This app is somehow gaining access to my iPhone 11 Pro Max and spying on me while I use the app a few minutes a week to watch some prank and sports video clips?

    There is a whole being said about China as fact with absolutely nothing to back it up.. I would like to have the info you and others seem to have? 
    I agree, show me the proof. Trump is simply upset with TikTok. We've seen the proof that Facebook and Google capture and sell personal information (and nothing is done about it) so until I see legitimate proof about what is being said about TikTok I refuse to believe all the haters. I know the Chinese government, along with Israel, Russia and every other country in the world, spy on the US so why are we making such a big deal about this application? 
    cornchipGeorgeBMacredgeminipa
  • Reply 16 of 29
    Because what other awful spying details would be uncovered by selling the company to a US buyer? I suspect a lot.

    Or, far more likely:   NONE.   Nothing.    Not a single thing     Because it's all fabricated nonsense to distract from Russia and their ongoing attacks on the U.S. and its elections.
    ....    And besides, Trump was pissed when TikTok users humiliated him.   But, he needed a reason that wouldn't reveal how much of a doofus he really is.  So, "blame China".
    hydrogenredgeminipamuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 17 of 29
    I see that the irony went right over the heads of the Trumpers.  Namely:

    The country the Trumpers accuse of stealing U.S.  IP just busted the U.S. for trying to steal their IP!
    redgeminipa
  • Reply 18 of 29
    TikTok? Just bring Vine back.
    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 19 of 29
    larryjw said:
    This is just Trump being an asshole. 
    I agree, Trump got all bent out of shape when the Tic Toc Tweenies made all those reservations for the OK rally.  After bragging about the "Great" attendance he was going to have, very few people actually showed up. 


    redgeminipaGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 20 of 29
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    TikTok is just a fad... in a year or two, there will be the next fad that will grab everyone's attention for the next 15 minutes.  TikTok is not my thing... I don't get a lot of their humor.  Tell me how out of touch (thankfully) I am will this time-wasting social-media apps.

    anantksundaramwatto_cobra
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