China: US bans on TikTok and WeChat violate WTO rules

News
Monday, October 05, 2020 - 17:12
Point Trader Group

A trade official said China said during a World Trade Organization meeting that US restrictions on the Chinese mobile apps TikTok and WeChat violated the organization's rules.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has ordered to block downloads of the two apps and ordered Bytedance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to sell its operations to a US company, citing security concerns. But US judges questioned the government's defense.

An informed trade official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that a representative of China said during the closed-door meeting on Friday that the measures "clearly contradict the rules of the World Trade Organization, restrict cross-border trade services and violate the basic principles and objectives of the multilateral trade system."

He added that the representative of China described Washington's failure to provide solid evidence of the reasons for its actions as a "flagrant violation" of the rules.

At the same meeting, the official said, the United States defended its measures, saying they were aimed at reducing risks to national security.

The US administration had said earlier that the Chinese government has access to US user data.

The Chinese statements will not produce any results by themselves, but Beijing can file a formal complaint with the Geneva-based organization.


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