China's state media isn't happy with President Trump's — and possibly Microsoft's — plans for TikTok.
In an editorial published this week about the potential sale of TikTok in the United States, the Beijing-run China Daily newspaper slams the Trump administration while warning that China "will by no means accept the 'theft' of a Chinese technology company," per Bloomberg.
U.S. lawmakers have long raised security concerns about TikTok, the video app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, and President Trump recently vowed to ban it in the United States. On Monday, he said he would not do so quite yet as Microsoft explores a potential purchase. Strangely, Trump also demanded that the U.S Treasury receives a "very substantial" cut of such a sale.
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As those talks unfold, the editorial in the China Daily paper compares the United States' actions to an "officially sanctioned 'steal' of Chinese technology" while warning that China "has plenty of ways to respond if the administration carries out its planned smash and grab."
Meanwhile, another editorial from the state-run Global Times calls Washington "unreasonable" while asserting that "many of the U.S. practices, including banning TikTok, show the country's weakening competitiveness." CNN notes that these editorials are "are often looked upon as a barometer of sentiment among senior officials" in China.
After his threat to ban TikTok, Trump on Monday said an American company would have until Sept. 15 to purchase it before it would "close down," though with just 11 days to go until that deadline, the clock is ticking.
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