The coronavirus pandemic seems to have fueled controversy on the existing feud between the east and the west.
Even before covid-19 stuck shook the world to its core, tensions between The US and China were evident, particularly the economic feud.
To many people, the act of Donald Trump banning TikTok wasn’t unprecedented, considering that it came shortly after Trump raged a war against Huawei – the giant Chinese telco.
Besides the threats by Trump to ban the app over issues around national security, China accused Trump of “revealing his own hypocrisy” and reacted furiously to this move.
While boarding air force one, Trump announced that he was going to ban TikTok from The US, claiming he could use an executive order or emergency economic orders to effect this move.
While this move did not present a clear pathway on how the possible legal implications would look like, Trump claimed that he has the authority, mainly because the app presented huge security concerns to The US.
Donald Trump’s comments followed a flurry of news and different opinions on social media that raised various concerns and mixed reactions to this immediate ban. This situation, which seemed to change as fast as videos scroll on the same app, started with Trump’s announcement and news that Microsoft could be an interested buyer from ByteDance.
The Trump administration accused this app of providing US data to the Chinese government, a claim which TikTok and China outrightly denied.
While the idea of the purchase of this app by Microsoft exclusively came from him, Trump argued that the united states should get an incredibly huge percentage of this price since they are the ones effecting it.
Controversial behavior
The requested payment to The US treasury created a glamour of controversy as legal experts argued that such a demand to take over an application through dubious means would cause more damage.
According to one of the lawyers from The US legal team, the federal government has no right to influence the authority to take a cut of a private deal.
The following Tuesday, the China Daily newspaper claimed that the Chinese government would not accept this thievery of a technology created in China. It also claimed that the Chinese government had several options to counter this action should the Trump administration decide to proceed with it.
According to a reporter at MIT Technology Review, the act of Trump threatening a ban which would push the price of the app down to influence the deal is “astonishing” and a bizarre situation for Trump and The US.
Double standards
The Chinese telco accused the united states of threatening them without substantial evidence.
As the economic feud between the two countries and inherent controversy over the source of the coronavirus intensified, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that the Federal government was threatening the Chinese company based on presumption.
He further argued that this action was a violation of the principles of the WTO’s policies on transparency, non-discrimination and openness.
The spokesperson further asked the federal government to heed to the voices in the international community and create an open business landscape; one that is non-discriminatory and stop entangling commercial activities with politics.
On concluding note, The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs spokesperson highlighted that the United States should stop exhibiting double standards when it comes to such critical matters.
Ending
Evidently, the controversy surrounding this TikTok ban does not seem to be one that will end very soon.
The worst part is that it threatens international relations, and the outcome may not be something to look forward to.
As a platform that is characterized by Tik Tok Video Likes and immense following, TikTok is expected to scale its heights of growth over the next few years.
Thankfully, Trump’s arguments are being investigated by a foreign investment committee that is expected to hand over the recommendations regarding this matter to Trump.