Demonstrators hold up signs in support of video app TikTok during a news conference on Tuesday outside the United States Capitol Building in Washington, DC. ANNA MONEYMAKER / GETTY IMAGES
Beijing slammed Washington on Wednesday for resorting to bullying when it could not succeed in fair competition, saying its practice disrupts normal business activities and will eventually backfire.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin made the remarks ahead of a vote by the United States House of Representatives on a bill that would force TikTok to cut ties with its parent company Byte-Dance, or it would get banned in the US.
In recent years, though the US has never found evidence of TikTok threatening US national security, it has never stopped suppressing the video-sharing app, Wang told a regular news conference.
The US move undermines the confidence of international investors in the investment environment and sabotages the normal international economic and trade order, the spokesman said.
Also on Wednesday, in response to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's remarks regarding Chinese electric vehicles, Wang said that hyping the so-called "China data threat" is only an excuse to justify US actions to oppress China.
Under the pretext of so-called data security, the US restricts the flow of data to "countries of concern" and investigates vehicles that use "connected" car technology of certain countries, Wang said.
Such practices abuse the concept of national security, and the true purpose is to oppress the development of high-tech industries of other countries, he said.
Beijing hopes Washington will take pragmatic actions to safeguard an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment, and work with others to formulate universal data security rules to enable orderly and free data flows around the world, he said.
The spokesman said that China never imposes excessive restrictions on specific countries or companies.
As long as they abide by Chinese laws and regulations, Beijing welcomes foreign companies and all kinds of platforms, products and services into the Chinese market, he added.
