China has accused the US of unjustly behaving like a “bandit” for a bill that is likely to ban TikTok in the US.
The bill has been passed in the House of Representatives, which would give TikTok’s parent company six months to divest from the firm or face a ban on the app. The six-month timeframe for ByteDance to find a buyer for its US assets seems ambitious.
The bill, however, is yet to be passed in the Senate. President Joe Biden has said that he would sign the bill once passed.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, a Beijing-based firm registered in the Cayman Islands.
Lawmakers have time and again expressed concern about the app saying that there are privacy issues with the data.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to pass the bill, with 352 representatives voting in favour while 65 voted against.
China has said that the bill which was passed is “contrary to the principles of fair competition and justice”.
“When someone sees a good thing another person has and tries to take it for themselves, this is entirely the logic of a bandit,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
Beijing has vowed to take” necessary measures” to protect its interests.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that by banning TikTok, the US would make Meta very powerful.
In an interview to CNBC, he said, “Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people.”
As of now, it is unclear whether the bill will have enough support to pass the Senate. It is also possible that the bill may never come up for a vote.
TikTok is banned in China along with other social media platforms. Chinese users use a similar app, Douyin, which is only available in China and is censored by the government.