Foreign company CEO attendance hearing after 13 years
Blincoln “We have to end the TikTok threat somehow”
China: US fails to provide evidence of security threat
On the 23rd (local time), the US House of Representatives held a hearing on the security threat of TikTok, inviting Zhou Shouzi, CEO of Chinese video-sharing platform ‘TikTok’, as a witness. It is the first time in 13 years since the 2010 Toyota recall incident that a CEO of a foreign company testified at a US Congressional hearing.
The ruling Democratic Party and opposition Republican lawmakers fired crossfire, saying, “TikTok is a weapon of the Chinese Communist Party and should be banned (in the United States altogether).” The conflict between the U.S. and China over TikTok is intensifying, with Chinese authorities responding on the 24th, saying, “The United States continues its repression.”
Cathy Rogers, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (Republican Party), said at the hearing that lasted about five hours, “TikTok is a weapon used by the Chinese Communist Party to monitor and manipulate Americans and exploit future generations. selected repeatedly. It should be banned,” he criticized. Representative Frank Fallon, Democratic Party secretary of the Energy Trade Commission, also said, “(Contrary to TikTok’s claim, TikTok will continue to collect and sell American data).” Rep. Tony Kartenas (Democratic Party) also added that “(the ban on TikTok) is a matter of life or death,” pointing out cases where American teenagers died due to the “breath holding challenge,” which was once popular on TikTok.
CEO Zhou, who is from Singapore, explained that “ByteDance is not a Chinese agent,” and “an American company managed by an American employee stores TikTok’s data on American soil.” However, he also revealed that his children do not use TikTok.
Voices of concern also poured out outside the hearing room. US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln said, “We must end (the threat of TikTok) by any means.” The Joe Biden administration is sticking to its intention to completely ban the use of TikTok in the United States unless ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, sells its stake in TikTok.
China protested. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning argued that China takes data security very seriously, saying, “The US has not presented any evidence that TikTok threatens US national security.” China’s Ministry of Commerce also said it would oppose the sale of TikTok’s stake owned by ByteDance.
However, the global TikTok alert is blowing, with the movement to ban TikTok spreading outside the United States. On this day, the British Parliament said, “We will follow the government policy that prohibits the installation of TikTok on business devices.” The Scottish Government has also banned the use of TikTok on government officials’ work devices.
Washington =
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.