A logo of the video-sharing social networking company TikTok's Los Angeles Office Photo: Xinhua

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it supports Chinese businesses to protect own rights and interests, after some media reports said that TikTok's US operations will not be sold to US tech giants Microsoft or Oracle.

Answering a question about the latest revelation, Wang Wenbin, a FM spokesperson, excoriated US government' ruthless threats and crackdown on Chinese business operations in the US.

"The hunt for TikTok in the US is a typical example of the government extortion. China firmly opposes this act and will firmly support the relevant company to protect its own legal rights and interests," Wang said at a routine press conference in Beijing.

Microsoft said on Sunday US time that ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, had turned down its offer to acquire its US operations. Some media reports also reported on Monday that another bidder, Oracle, will also not be making the acquisition, though other reports said Oracle had won the bid.

US President Donald Trump had signed executive orders that threaten to ban TikTok in the US market unless the Chinese company finds a US buyer before September 20. Trump has also threatened to ban TikTok if a deal is not reached as soon as Tuesday.  

At the press conference on Monday, Wang said that while he would not comment on specific business operations, the US government was abusing its state power to crack down and extort non-US businesses that are leading in certain business areas, which exposed some US politicians' real attempt to seize assets by force, and the "ugly face" of economic coercion.