'Stop extorting': Chinese stooge slams Trump for trying to turn TikTok into a 'US baby'

US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off TikTok if the popular Chinese video-sharing app's tentative deal with two American companies Walmart and Oracle to create a new US-based service does not go through.

Rattled by this, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Chinese mouthpiece Global Times, asked the US leader to "stop extorting" the Chinese-owned company and stated that "there's no way the Chinese government will accept your demand". He 'cautioned' that Trump can ruin TikTok's US business, if the country's users do not object, but he can't turn the company into a "US baby".

China’s ByteDance, on September 21, said that TikTok’s global business will become its subsidiary, even though Oracle and Walmart Inc said that they and the US investors would own the majority of the video app. While Trump last week said that he supported a deal in principle that would allow TikTok to continue to operate in America, ByteDance, on the other hand, said that it will own 80% of TikTok Global, which is a newly created American company that will own most of the app’s operations worldwide. 

According to a Chinese media outlet, Toutiao, ByteDance in a statement said that it was a "rumour" that US investors would be TikTok Global’s majority owners. The company said that it will retain full control of its prized social media algorithms and allow Oracle only limited access to view source code for ‘safety’ purposes. 

Speaking in an interview on Monday, Trump said he wouldn’t approve the deal if the Chinese company retains control of TikTok. However, he also indicated that he expected Chinese influence to be diluted by a future public offering of the new company.

“They will have nothing to do with it, and if they do, we just won’t make the deal,” Trump said, referring to ByteDance. “It’s going to be controlled, totally controlled by Oracle, and I guess they’re going public and they’re buying out the rest of it — they’re buying out a lot, and if we find that they don’t have total control then we’re not going to approve the deal.”

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TikTok ban in US

The US last week issued orders to ban popular Chinese social media apps - TikTok and WeChat - to 'safeguard national security'. The ban on downloading TikTok, originally scheduled to take effect on Sunday, was postponed to September 27, according to the US Department of Commerce.

Last month, President Trump signed an executive order to ban TikTok and WeChat by September 15 unless the ownership of the two Chinese companies changed to American. TikTok made its debut in the US in 2018 and sees American traffic of more than 100 million users each month.

(With inputs from agencies)

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