Beijing, China:
Beijing accused the US on Wednesday of “bullying” following President Donald Trump ordered a ban on a series of Chinese apps in his final weeks in workplace, branding them a threat to national safety.
Under the Trump administration Beijing and Washington have clashed repeatedly more than trade, technologies, human rights and the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the most current move to raise tensions, Trump ordered a ban on transactions involving Alipay, WeChat Pay and other apps linked to Chinese corporations, saying they could route user details to the government in Beijing.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying mentioned Wednesday the move was an instance of “bullying” by the US, and accused Washington of “stretching the concept of national security.”
“This harms both itself and others.”
Trump’s executive order is to take impact in 45 days — just weeks following he is replaced in the White House by President-elect Joe Biden on January 20.
But a senior administration official mentioned the order and its implementation have not been discussed with the “potential incoming Biden administration.”
The apps targeted by the new ban had been selected for the reason that of the incredibly higher quantity of downloads, which meant tens of millions of customers could be at danger of getting their information harvested, according to the administration official.
Trump’s order especially named apps like Alipay, QQ Wallet, Tencent QQ, WeChat Pay and WPS Office. Alipay and Tencent did not respond to queries.
Previous executive orders aimed at banning TikTok — which is owned by China-primarily based ByteDance — had been derailed by court rulings indicating Trump had overstepped his legal authority.
Hua mentioned the new order would” of course have some impact on related Chinese companies, but more important might be that it damages the interests of American consumers and the US.”
“The US talks about a free market economy and fair competition, but how does it behave?” she mentioned.
Details vague
The executive order leaves it to the secretary of commerce to propose which sorts or transactions with apps to avert and how.
The Trump administration final week appealed a federal court ruling which makes it possible for TikTok to hold operating in the United States regardless of a move to block the preferred social media application on national safety grounds.
The Justice Department filed the appeal searching for to enforce a ban on TikTok ordered by Trump, who has argued that the app’s Chinese parent corporation might use TikTok for espionage and to spread disinformation.
The ban had been rejected by US District Judge Carl Nichols and in a parallel case filed in Pennsylvania.
Nichols mentioned TikTok’s lawyers had demonstrated that the Commerce Department most likely overstepped its authority by searching for to ban the preferred app and “acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by failing to consider obvious alternatives.”
TikTok has repeatedly defended itself against allegations of information transfers to the Chinese government, saying it shops user details on servers in the United States and Singapore.
It has a additional fight on its hands more than an August 14 executive order from Trump to force ByteDance to sell its US operations to an American purchaser.
Washington is in a tense trade battle with Beijing, and Trump’s administration has stepped up warnings about China’s expanding financial and military energy.
(This story has not been edited by TheSpuzz employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)