TikTok and WeChat: China welcomes Biden's cancellation of Trump's ban
Chinese smartphone icons TikTok and WeChat.
AP - Mark Schiefelbein
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The American president has decided to procrastinate in the TikTok and WeChat file.
Joe Biden announced the revocation of decrees issued by his predecessor Donald Trump to ban these successful Chinese-owned platforms.
A decision welcomed Thursday, June 10 by Beijing.
The American president in fact signed a new decree on Wednesday asking his administration to launch an investigation to determine the real risks posed by internet applications held by certain foreign powers.
He gives him four months to provide him with a detailed report and make recommendations.
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Examples of relaxation between Beijing and Washington are rare these days. China hailed "
a positive gesture in the right direction,
" according to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, Gao Feng. The latter, however, stressed that the decision of the Biden administration was accompanied by the opening of an investigation. "
We hope that the United States will treat Chinese companies fairly and refrain from mixing politics and trade issues,
" pleaded Gao Feng.
The new executive order seeks to identify all "
connected software applications that may pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and the American people
," including "
applications owned, controlled or managed by individuals who support military activities or intelligence from another country, or are involved in malicious cyber activities, or involve applications that collect sensitive personal data
, ”said a statement from the White House.
The US Department of Commerce and other federal agencies in Washington will need to develop guidelines "
to protect sensitive personal data, including personally identifiable information and genetic information
" from abuse.
Separate survey for TikTok
Donald Trump claimed that Chinese-owned apps pose risks to US national security.
He had sought to force the sale of TikTok to American investors.
He accused WeChat, a platform ubiquitous in the lives of Chinese through its messaging, remote payments or reservations services, and TikTok, a short video app particularly popular among young people, of collecting confidential data and sharing it with Beijing.
These companies have always refuted these accusations of espionage.
A legal battle ensued after the first executive order issued in August 2020. At the end of December, the Trump administration appealed a court ruling preventing the Commerce Department from imposing restrictions on TikTok, which would have been successful. to the ban of the social network in the United States.
But in February, the Biden administration asked the Court of Appeals to give it sixty days to study the case and rule on whether or not to uphold the Trump administration's request.
The White House did not say whether this decree extinguished all remedies.
According to a Biden administration official interviewed by AFP, TikTok nevertheless continues to be subject to a separate review "
through CFIUS,
" the Treasury-dependent agency responsible for ensuring that foreign investment do not pose a risk to national security.
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To read also: “America is back”: Joe Biden in Europe for his first trip abroad
More Chinese companies blacklisted
These decisions show that Joe Biden has no intention of easing the pressure on China.
According to many observers, his administration has not completely closed the door to the reimposition of a new version of these sanctions.
Last week, the US president extended the list of Chinese entities in which Americans are prohibited from investing.
To do this, he amended an executive order by Donald Trump to include companies involved in surveillance technologies that could be used not only in China against the Uyghur Muslim minority and dissidents, but also around the world.
►
To read also: United States, a plan to counter China: "A strategic, geo-economic and geopolitical challenge"
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