China prefers rather to sink TikTok than sell it under pressure

The very popular app TikTok is owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance. The Trump government is demanding that the company sell the American business, because the US fears that any personal data collected by the app will reach the Chinese government. If the sale is not completed by next tuesday, the US will ban the music video platform.

Chinese government officials fear that the people’s Republic and ByteDance may appear weak if they give in to pressure from Washington, the Reuters sources suggest. It may result in creating the dangerous precedent. It is reported that China is also considering changing rules on the export of technology in such a way that any deals around TikTok are delayed as long as necessary.

China itself is strongly opposed to the forced sale of TikTok in the US. The government of the country would have updated a list of technologies that cannot be sold abroad without the approval of the government, so that TikTok can only be sold after the green light from Beijing.

ByteDance stated to Reuters that the Chinese government never indicated that TikTok should stop in the US. Spokesmen for the Chinese government did not respond directly to questions from the press office.