Wall Street Journal: TikTok CEO Zhou is funded to shout to the US government: sale will not solve security problems
TikTok CEO sent a message to the Biden administration and Congress that the sale will not address America's national security concerns about the popular video app.
TikTok CEO Zhou said in an interview that divesting the company from its Chinese owner-a move now demanded by the US-would provide no more protection than the multibillion-dollar plan already proposed by TikTok. The plan includes hiring US partner Oracle to store data from US users and preventing China from having any impact on videos watched by Americans on apps.
"I very much welcome feedback on other risks that have not been addressed," he said at his TikTok WeWork office in Washington. "so far, I have not heard of any problems that cannot be solved in this way."
The Wall Street Journal reported late on Wednesday that the Biden administration asked Chinese owners of TikTok to sell their shares or face a U. S. ban. In a statement after the release of the report, TikTok said the forced sale would not address any expected security risks: "divestment will not solve the problem: a change of ownership will not impose any new restrictions on data flow or access."
The Trump administration forced the sale of TikTok to the United States in 2020, but eventually ran aground in court, when TikTok and the parent company bounced through the appellate court to block the injunction. Similarly, the Biden administration's move to sell TikTok may face legal challenges, and TikTok can argue that any compulsory sale is tantamount to a ban, and the Chinese government will not allow algorithms to sell with it.
Mr Zhou is a Singaporean reserve officer and a former Goldman Sachs banker. He will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee next Thursday and will have the opportunity to make the proposal directly to Congress.
In recent months, the campaign against TikTok has intensified, but there is no valid information to support it. Members of Congress and former administration officials have said that China is using TikTok in a way that threatens the national security of the United States. On the contrary, as the app's popularity soars in the United States, especially among teenagers, and relations between the United States and China become more strained, concerns are growing in both parties.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a news conference on Thursday that the United States should stop spreading false information and stop cracking down on foreign companies. "the United States has yet to produce evidence that TikTok threatens the national security of the United States," he added.
(source: Phoenix Weekly)
