Following India, Trump administration has banned two major Chinese Apps – TikTok and WeChat. The order has been signed by Donald Trump today.
Both the Chinese Apps – TikTok and WeChat were under scanner in the name of ‘National security Risk’ after India tactfully banned 59 Chinese apps citing the same reason.
Also, read: Indian Government Bans 47 More Chinese Mobile Apps
Short video sharing App TikTok was in news for the past few days as Microsoft has shown interest in buying it. Many tech giants were under the impression that the ban would be in pending as negotiations were in progress between TikTok and Microsoft officials.
Trump has signed the twin orders banning TikTok and WeChat which will have 45 days to come into force with specific instructions. This means that the ban will hit the apps in mid of September 2020.
While banning the Chinese apps, Trump said
These risks have led other countries, including Australia and India, to begin restricting or banning the use of WeChat. The United States must take aggressive action against the owner of WeChat to protect our national security,
Reacting to Trump’s decision to ban the apps, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, in a regular press meet said
the US frequently abuses its national power and unjustifiably suppresses non-US companies,
At the expense of the rights and interests of US users and companies, the US… is carrying out arbitrary political manipulation and suppression,
WeChat is the largest chatting app in China which also got a good number of users in India and the US. All the financial transactions will face restrictions if the apps get banned.
World’s largest economies, both the US and China are in tit for tat policy. US has ordered the Chinese consulate to shut down in the US which is followed by the US consulate’s closure in China. Citing Hong Kong and Coronavirus, the US has tightened China’s global trade activities.