China is better off doing nothing for TikTok

Will Xi or won't Xi?. Xi Jinping can sit out the fight for TikTok. The countdown has started for ByteDance to divest its short-video app in the United States, or face a ban. But fears of retaliation by the Chinese president look overblown. The social media network isn't strategic enough.

Lawmakers in Washington justified the legislation they passed last week by labelling TikTok, which claims 170 million American users, a national security threat. Meanwhile, Beijing accuses the U.S. government of acting like a bandit and vows to "take all necessary measures" to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

Just how far Xi will go to protect the overseas interest of his country's companies is unclear, however. Years of U.S. tariffs, sanctions and trade restrictions targeting goods and companies from the People's Republic, including domestic telecoms-to-chips darling Huawei, have prompted varying degrees of responses. Those ranged from banning products made by U.S. memory-chip maker Micron Technology to imposing export controls on metals widely used in semiconductors to sanctioning a handful of U.S. defense firms.

ByteDance is no Huawei however. Its addictive apps such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, are not a priority for economic planners in the world's second largest economy. They are focused on cultivating champions in green energy, electric vehicles, semiconductors and artificial intelligence - sectors they hope will propel the nation's slowing growth.

Xi himself is also cracking down on screen time. Currently, those under 18 years old are only allowed one hour of online games a day between Friday and Sunday and on holidays; internet platforms have to limit how much time and money children spend on their apps. Douyin restricts teenagers in China to just 40 minutes a day.

Ultimately, Beijing is unlikely to give its approval to ByteDance for a sale, and ByteDance might prefer to shut down the app in the U.S. over giving up valuable algorithms that power its core business.

Chinese officials may use Washington's slapdown as leverage in future bilateral discussions, but the economy is also vulnerable. That may explain why Beijing has not lashed out against American businesses such as Apple and Tesla present in the country. Xi can reasonably conclude that defending TikTok isn't worth it.