For China, TikTok’s troubles are a skirmish amid bigger fights with the US

BEIJING - A few days ago, TikTok’s Singaporean chief executive Chew Shou Zi made a plea on the wildly popular video-sharing app after the US CongressAddressing its American users directly, a grim-faced Mr Chew said that the Bill, swiftly signed into law by President Joe Biden on April 24, “will take TikTok away from you and 170 million Americans who find community and connection on our platform”.

US officials were engaging their Chinese counterparts at a steady clip. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin finally got to speak with Admiral Dong Jun,Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Mr Blinken made repeat visits to Beijing only months after their last outings. There have also been several working group meetings.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi complained to Mr Blinken on April 26 when the two met. While the relationship has begun to stabilise, it continues to face disruptions, said the Chinese envoy, arguing that China’s right to development has been “unreasonably suppressed”.What to make of the interactions on both sides? “US policy towards China is a combination of engagement and competition.

Beijing will also want to signal that it is being reasonable and even-handed, even with a power that is attempting to suppress its development, said Prof Hoo. As soon as Mr Biden signed into law the order for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to find a buyer within nine months or face a ban in the US, questions surfaced over how or whether Beijing will retaliate.

ByteDance has said it has no intention of selling TikTok. And when push comes to shove, it could well shut down the app and exit the US. While that may dismay many of its American users, including the seven million business owners whom Mr Chew says built their livelihoods on TikTok, it is not going to destroy ByteDance.

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