Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry
China urged the US to provide an open, just, fair and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies and stop the politicization of trade issues, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday in response to the US government's national security review of TikTok.
The Chinese government has always demanded Chinese companies to apply overseas economic cooperation on a legal basis. The US side, without any evidence, made a "presumption of guilt" against Chinese companies and threatened the companies, which showed the falsity of the US in maintaining so-called freedom, Wang Wenbin, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a routine press conference on Thursday.
Wang added that the US' behavior violates the openness, transparency and the non-discriminatory principles of the WTO and would harm the benefits of Americans and companies.
Recently there are some countries' governments and media saying that there should be no "double standards" in the social media sector. Related Chinese social media software has met the needs of the public and the market, providing multiple choices to different users, which is beneficial for the healthy development of the social media market in every country, he said.
We urge some people in the US listen to voices from international society carefully and to provide an open, just, fair and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies and other markets and stop the politicization of trade issues, he said, adding "This matters for the national image and credit of the US."
A group of Republican US senators such as Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton claimed in a letter to US President Donald Trump that TikTok censored sensitive content and it may be used by the Chinese government to manipulate political discussions on social media platforms, Reuters reported.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed on Wednesday that the app is under a national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, media reported.
