Advertisement
Opinion | In forcing TikTok sale, the US is taking a page out of China’s playbook
- But as data becomes the new competitive domain, the TikTok case should be used instead to push for fair treatment of foreign firms in the tech industry, in both the US and China, as well as data protection standards
Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
“It is time that other countries saw through the outrageous farce … and joined hands to oppose such blatant robberies and maintain a fair global business environment.”
“These forms of state-sponsored forced technology transfer are truly a devil’s bargain.”
A casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that China and the United States disagree on everything these days: from how to confront a global pandemic to Hong Kong’s status. So some may be surprised to learn that the former quote was published in a People’s Daily editorial and the latter penned by Peter Navarro, US President Donald Trump’s top trade adviser.
After Trump banned TikTok, a Chinese social media app, and forced the sale of its US operations to an American company, Beijing and Washington have struck a remarkably similar tone regarding forced technology transfers.
American companies in China have long complained of forced technology transfers, where they are pressured (legally or otherwise) to hand over their trade secrets to joint-venture business partners. Indeed, it became a rallying cry for Trump in his trade war. The irony is that Washington is taking a page out of Beijing’s playbook.
06:02
Global expansion of TikTok and other Chinese tech companies is likely, only not in the West
Global expansion of TikTok and other Chinese tech companies is likely, only not in the West
In an August 6 executive order, Trump cited national security concerns in banning TikTok. He then ordered its Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest its interest in TikTok’s US operations. This in effect meant selling TikTok to a US company. Oracle and Walmart have since brokered a deal to take a majority stake in TikTok Global, which will be spun out of ByteDance.
Advertisement