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Trump bans Chinese social media giants as diplomatic battle between superpowers ratchets up again

President Trump sparked Chinese fury when he announced a US ban on the social media giants WeChat, right, and TikTok - Ivan Abreu/Bloomberg
President Trump sparked Chinese fury when he announced a US ban on the social media giants WeChat, right, and TikTok - Ivan Abreu/Bloomberg

Beijing reacted angrily yesterday after Donald Trump, the US president, opened a new front in the escalating Sino-American Cold War when he ordered a sweeping ban on the Chinese-owned social media giants TikTok and WeChat.

Mr Trump’s move gives Americans 45 days to stop doing business with the platforms, citing national security concerns for the incendiary move. The apps could be banned from Apple and Google app stores, so removing them from US distribution.

His twin executive orders mark the latest in a series of increasingly vicious rows between the world’s two leading economies. They include human rights abuses in Hong Kong, the growing global influence of the communications giant Huawei, and the genesis and spread of coronavirus.

But, for the first time, the fall-out between the superpowers threatens to impact directly on the lives of millions of Chinese citizens back home and around the world. WeChat, used by a billion people, is like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, PayPal, Uber and Tinder rolled into one. The surprise ban could cut off much informal communications between people in China and the United States.

But it would also impact heavily on American firms in China. WeChat is the ubiquitous tool of choice to carry out market and advertising operations and after-sales service.

The move on TikTok was less surprising. Mr Trump had previously threatened a deadline of Sept 15 to “close down” TikTok unless another company bought it.

The executive order effectively signals a 45-day deadline for Microsoft, already in talks to acquire TikTok, to complete the deal. Two other US companies are also interested.

TikTok said it was ‘shocked’ and  threatened legal action. It said the order set a dangerous precedent and “risks undermining global business’ trust in the United States’ commitment to the rule of law”.

Mr Trump accused both firms of aiming to “capture vast swathes of information from its users”. He said that then allowed the Chinese Communist Party to obtain private data on Americans, check up on Chinese citizens abroad, and mount disinformation campaigns.

Mr Trump said: “The spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States.”

Donald Trump pumps his fist at an event in Ohio shortly before issuing his ban on two Chinese social media giants - Susan Walsh/AP
Donald Trump pumps his fist at an event in Ohio shortly before issuing his ban on two Chinese social media giants - Susan Walsh/AP

China hit back, accusing Mr Trump of suppression. But it did not indicate whether it might retaliate, or how.

Wang Wenbin, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said: “The US frequently abuses its national power and unjustifiably suppresses non-US companies. At the expense of the rights and interest of US users and companies, the US is carrying out arbitrary political manipulation and suppression.”

But he failed to mention that China blocks many US platforms including Google, Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube, via government censors dubbed the “Great Firewall.”

WeChat users, even abroad, have been blocked from opening links to Telegraph stories sent through the platform, signalling how widespread the censorship can be.

Diplomatic tensions between the nations are ratcheting up for two key reasons. China has recently been taking a more assertive approach to international relations, and is in dispute with several other countries, including the UK and Australia. Mr Trump, meanwhile, is seeking to persuade voters ahead of November’s presidential elections he is taking a tough stance on Xi Jinping’s regime.

A man cycles past the Beijing headquarters for Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, one of two Chinese social media giants faces a ban after President Trump's move  - Greg Baker/AFP
A man cycles past the Beijing headquarters for Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, one of two Chinese social media giants faces a ban after President Trump's move - Greg Baker/AFP

Shares in Tencent - WeChat’s parent company, an investor in American technology and gaming start-ups, including Epic Games, which makes the hugely popular Fortnite - fell 8 per cent in trading early Friday before rallying slightly. It said: “We are reviewing the executive order to get a full understanding.”

But TikTok, owned by ByteDance, said that the executive order was based on “unnamed reports with no citations.”

It said: “We have made it clear that TikTok has never shared user data with the Chinese government, nor censored content at its request.

“We will pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and our users and treated fairly - if not by the administration, then by the US courts.”