China protests US ban on TikTok, WeChat, warns counter measures
Beijing: China on Saturday said it was resolutely opposed to the US' move of blocking downloads of WeChat and TikTok apps and warned counter measures to protect the interest of Chinese companies.
The US on Friday issued orders to ban popular Chinese social media apps TikTok and WeChat from Sunday to safeguard national security, weeks after India banned them, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.
Last month, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban TikTok and WeChat by September 15 unless the ownership of the two Chinese companies changed to American.
Reacting to orders issued by the Trump administration to ban TikTok and WeChat from Sunday, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said it was resolutely opposed to the US' move to block downloads of these apps.
In the absence of any evidence, the US has repeatedly used state power to suppress the two enterprises for unwarranted reasons, which seriously disrupted their normal business activities, undermined the confidence of international investors in the US investment environment and damaged the normal global economic and trade order, the MOC said in a statement.
It said Washington should immediately stop bullying and safeguard international rules and order.
"If the US is bent on having its own way, China will take necessary measures to resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies," the ministry said, without giving details.
Though the ministry did not specify any retaliatory action, it issued rules for a widely anticipated unreliable entity list mechanism on Saturday that could severely punish foreign entities and individuals who undermine China's national interests.
The move is believed to counter the US' relentless crackdown campaign against Chinese businesses, state-run Global Times said.
The list would include foreign entities or individuals who undermine China's sovereignty, security and development interests and those who violate market principles by cutting off normal transactions with Chinese firms, organizations or individuals, the MOC said.
The Ministry did not release specific foreign entities or individuals that will be put on the list.
TikTok and WeChat were first banned by India on June 29 along with 59 Chinese apps, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.
The ban was expanded to 224 Chinese apps later. The ban was imposed in the backdrop of a tense stand-off along the Line of Actual control in eastern Ladakh with Chinese troops.
President Trump had also cited India's action against the Chinese apps while announcing his plan to ban them last month.
The latest US move followed intensified moves by Trump administration to crack down on high tech Chinese firms starting with telecom giant Huawei whose products are banned in the US
Chinese analysts say US actions point to the intensifying US-Chine battle for technological supremacy.
On September 15, China's telecom giant Huawei was cut off from essential supplies of semiconductors, without which it cannot make its smartphones or 5G equipment , Wang Xiangwei, a Beijing-based columnist wrote in South China Morning Post on Saturday.
The US move made Huawei's future uncertain as it expects to run out of chips kept in reserve before the end of next year, he said.
Adding to the woes of Huawei and other Chinese tech companies was the announcement last Sunday that Nvidia, a US technology company known for specialised graphics chips for gamers and servers, would pay USD 40 billion for the British chip designer Arm, he said.
If Arm becomes a US company, it will give the US government further leverage to restrict the access of Huawei and other Chinese companies to mobile computing. Arm's chips, which are installed in most of the world's mobile phones, are independent of American chip-making technology, he said.
Huawei is already battling hard to get the release of Meng Wanzhou, its high-profile CFO and daughter of the company's founder, Ren Zhengfei, who was detained in Vancouver in Canada in December 2018 on US charges of bank fraud.
The Huawei executive is also accused of misleading HSBC Holdings about her company's dealings with Iran, which the US has sanctioned. She is fighting possible extradition to the United States.
Announcing the ban ahead of September 20, the US government wants to impose extreme pressure on TikTok again, and leaves the Chinese company less space in negotiating a deal with the US company, Ma Jihua, an industry analyst, told the Global Times.
Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, said Tencent and TikTok will not be the Trump administration's last targets, as China's high-tech growth is irresistible.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
