China Objects to TikTok Divestment Bill Passed by House

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the U.S. House of Representatives’ March 13 passage of a bill to require China’s ByteDance to divest itself of social media application TikTok (see 2403130051), saying the vote falls on the “wrong side of the principles of fair competition and international trade rules.”

“If ‘national security’ can be abused to bring down other countries’ competitive companies, there would be no fairness or justice at all,” a ministry spokesperson said during a regular press conference on March 14, according to a transcript of his remarks. The person said China “attaches great importance to protecting data privacy and security,” adding that the U.S. doesn’t have “evidence of TikTok threatening its national security.”