TikTok Hunt By Washington Is Driven By Political Hysteria: China Daily

(CTN News) – Byte Dance is under increasing pressure to sell its thriving TikTok operations in the US as Sino-US geopolitical rivalry escalates.

The popular Chinese video app has been banned from all US House of Representatives-managed devices, and a law banning its use on US government devices will soon come into effect.

The House’s Chief Administrative Officer informed lawmakers and staff on Tuesday that the app poses a “high security risk”.

In spite of alleged concerns from the US Commerce Department about possible losses in subsequent litigation, TikTok seems unable to escape increasingly politicized scrutiny.

China hawks in the US government and Congress are unlikely to give up until they sever all viable links between the two economies and peoples, which seems to be the only way for them to stop worrying about “national security” in light of the current tensions surrounding the overall China-US relationship.

A growing distrust between one of the world’s most substantial state-to-state relations has developed into a vicious circle over the past few years, and the bilateral relationship is becoming increasingly susceptible to political hysteria as a result.

TikTok’s troubles began under the Trump administration, which tried to control it and then banned it. A revocation of Trump’s executive order by the Biden administration invalidated the ban once.

It shows how strongly some China hawks in the US feel about TikTok’s Chinese ownership, which has been the sole argument they have used to justify their demands.

Like Huawei, which has lost almost all access to the US market due to unsubstantiated “national security concerns”, TikTok’s case has been based on suspicion.

In spite of all the hoopla over Huawei’s “threat” to US national security, and that of the US’ allies and partners, no credible evidence has ever been presented to support the claims.

Despite this, Huawei was banned anyway. A growing number of US allies and partners are also doing so.

A blanket ban may be difficult due to TikTok’s success in the US market – it has an estimated 100 million individual users and an increasing number of businesses are using it.

Despite this, the company’s troubles will continue. It can only operate in the US if TikTok divests itself of its Chinese owner, as some in Washington have suggested.

Byte Dance has worked hard to satisfy US demands and address security concerns. However, that has not been enough.

TikTok’s success and the inability of some in the US to accept a foreign company being successful, let alone a Chinese one, makes things unlikely to get easier for the company.

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