Trump preps bans on WeChat, TikTok, stoking tension with Beijing

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with the Chinese owners of messaging app WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok, escalating a high-stakes confrontation with Beijing over the future of the global tech industry.

"This is the rupture in the digital world between the U.S. and China," said James Lewis, a technology expert with Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies."Absolutely, China will retaliate." Washington's concerns about China's tech industry had until recently focused on telecom equipment vendor Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. As relations soured over a host of economic and human rights issues, it has sanctioned numerous other Chinese tech firms.

The yuan , a barometer of Sino-U.S. relations, posted its steepest drop since the United States expelled China from its Houston consulate a little over two weeks ago.Trump issued the orders under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that grants the administration sweeping power to bar U.S. firms or citizens from trading or conducting financial transactions with sanctioned parties.

Trump said this week he would support Microsoft's efforts to buy TikTok's U.S. operations if the U.S. government got a"substantial portion" of the proceeds. He nevertheless said he will ban the popular app on Sept. 15, though some Republicans have raised concerns about potential political fallout. The United States is not alone in its concern about Chinese internet apps: WeChat and TikTok were among 59 mostly Chinese apps that India outlawed in June for threatening its"sovereignty and integrity".

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