The US government's attempt to force TikTok to divest, or ban TikTok operations in the US, has laid bare Washington's "gangster thinking," which consist of robbing those who seem to prosper, Chinese officials said on Thursday.
In a response, Chinese officials said they will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its own legitimate rights.
The comment comes after the US House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the massively popular short-video platform, or face a ban.
The bill has drawn strong pushback from the international society, including TikTok's 170 million Americans users.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin slammed the move on Thursday. "The bill passed by the House has made the US stands on the contrary of fair competition principles and global trade rules…. And the way the US is handling the TikTok case has made the world see clearly whether the US' rules-based order is indeed globally beneficial, or whether it is exclusively serving the US' own interests," Wang said at a regular press briefing.
And there's no fairness or justice at all if the US used so-called "national security" excuse to arbitrarily suppress excellent enterprises of other countries, Wang said.
China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yadong on Thursday also urged the US side to respect market economy and fair competition rules, stop suppressing companies from other countries, and create open, fair, just and non-discriminative environment for the companies of other countries operating in the US.
"Relevant parities need to strictly abide by Chinese laws and regulations, and China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its own legitimate interests," He Yadong said.
The Associated Press reported that the US House passage of the bill is only the first step, and it will head to the 100-member Senate for a vote, and the Senate would also need to pass the measure for it to become law. US President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill into law if it reached his desk.
