China Making Moves to Defend TikTok

China is reportedly sending its diplomats to pressure Congress on TikTok. The social media company, owned by a parent Chinese conglomerate, has been at risk of being banned by Congress.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington has been sending individuals to pressure Congressmen to vote against banning TikTok. Deploying such resources proves that the Chinese Communist Party considers TikTok a very important asset in its competition with the United States. Politico reports:

TikTok, which is owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance, has repeatedly denied a relationship with the Chinese government and sought to distance itself from its Chinese origins. But now, with the fate of legislation to force the sale of the company facing an uncertain path forward in the Senate, the Chinese Embassy appears to be leveraging its political weight to protect the company’s future in the United States.

The meetings with Hill staff were initiated by the Chinese Embassy in outreach that did not initially mention TikTok, according to the congressional staffers, one of whom worked for the House and the other for the Senate, and who were granted anonymity to discuss conversations that they were not authorized to reveal publicly. The meetings, which took place with Chinese diplomats, were held after the House in March overwhelmingly voted in favor of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, the legislation that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok. 

The banning of TikTok has recently been complicated by Trump’s ambiguous position on the subject. Trump realizes that banning TikTok would consolidate power into the hands of Facebook and Meta, who has shown that it leans heavily liberal. NY Post continues:

Thus far, the Senate has declined to take up that legislation and multiple sources have suggested to The Post that the House is mulling additional legislative action pertaining to TikTok, though the specifics aren’t fully clear.

National security experts have cited an array of concerns about China’s potential influence over TikTok, given that the platform can be used to amass biometric identifiers, location data, browsing history, and more.

Chinese Embassy activities are particularly important to monitor, as they reflect the Chinese Government’s will. Social media will once again play a decisive role in the upcoming election, and TikTok’s place will be just as important.

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