China's government issues first response after India bans 59 apps; 'strongly concerned'

Hours after India banned 59 Chinese applications, China has issued its first statement on the development even as military-level talks between the two countries are underway in Chushul on Tuesday. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has said that his country is strongly concerned, and is verifying the situation. He also said that the Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including Chinese ones.

"China is strongly concerned, verifying the situation. We want to stress that the Chinese government always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international & local laws-regulations. Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including Chinese ones," he added.

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Meanwhile, China's mouthpiece Global Times highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a verified account on "China's Twitter-- Weibo". Taking to Twitter, the Global Times stated that PM Modi has over 240,000 followers on Weibo-- which is one of the banned apps in India. The tone of the Chinese 'Foreign Mission' media outlet has hints of incredulity that the government would take such a decision given PM Modi's own popularity on the platform.

Chinese apps banned

In a massive development on Monday night, the Home Ministry banned 59 Chinese Apps including TikTok. The Centre stated that it has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. Hence, in a move to protect the sovereignty of Indian Cyberspace and to ensure the interests of crores of Indian mobile users, the government stated that this was a major blow to China’s Digital Silk Route ambitions. This move comes amid the ongoing India-China standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

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Full list of apps that are banned: 

1. TikTok

2. Shareit

3. Kwai

4. UC Browser

5. Baidu map 

6. Shein 

7. Clash of Kings 

8. DU battery saver 

9. Helo 

10. Likee

11. YouCam makeup 

12. Mi Community 

13. CM Browers 

14. Virus Cleaner 

15. APUS Browser 

16. ROMWE 

17. Club Factory 

18. Newsdog 

19. Beutry Plus 

20. WeChat 

21. UC News 

22. QQ Mail 

23. Weibo 

24. Xender 

25. QQ Music 

26. QQ Newsfeed 

27. Bigo Live 

28. SelfieCity 

29. Mail Master 

30. Parallel Space

31. Mi Video Call – Xiaomi 

32. WeSync 

33. ES File Explorer 

34. Viva Video – QU Video Inc 

35. Meitu 

36. Vigo Video 

37. New Video Status 

38. DU Recorder 

39. Vault- Hide 

40. Cache Cleaner DU App studio 

41. DU Cleaner 

42. DU Browser 

43. Hago Play With New Friends 

44. Cam Scanner 

45. Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile 

46. Wonder Camera 

47. Photo Wonder 

48. QQ Player 

49. We Meet 

50. Sweet Selfie 

51. Baidu Translate 

52. Vmate 

53. QQ International 

54. QQ Security Center 

55. QQ Launcher 

56. U Video 

57. V fly Status Video 

58. Mobile Legends 

59. DU Privacy

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