Beijing, Jan 20 (EFE).- China on Monday urged the United States government Monday to offer a fair environment for foreign companies, following the recent resumption of the TikTok social network service in the country.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press conference that TikTok has operated in the US for years, gaining popularity among users and contributing significantly to the country’s employment and economic development.
“We hope that the US will seriously listen to rational voices and provide an open, fair, equitable and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from all countries operating in its territory,” Mao said.
The spokeswoman spoke of the importance of decisions on business operations and acquisitions being based on market principles and being made independently by the companies involved.
“If these decisions involve Chinese companies, they must comply with Chinese laws and regulations,” the spokeswoman added.
TikTok resumed operations Sunday after having temporarily stopped its service due to a law passed last year by the US Congress.
The regulation required the platform to disassociate itself from its parent company, Chinese company ByteDance, or face closure.
The measure was endorsed Friday by the Supreme Court, but the outgoing government of Joe Biden said its compliance would be determined by the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office Monday.
Trump said Sunday that he would issue an executive order on his first day in office to temporarily allow TikTok to continue operating and proposed that the US have a 50 percent stake in a joint venture that would allow the platform to continue operating in the country.
“Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars,” he said on his social network Truth Social.
His chosen National Security Advisor Michael Waltz did not rule out Sunday the possibility that it would maintain Chinese ownership as long as certain guarantees are in place.
The new US cabinet, he added, is confident both of being able to save TikTok and of protecting Americans and their data, “either through a direct sale or some firewall mechanism to ensure that the data is protected on US soil.” EFE
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