Singaporeans slam US senator’s grilling of TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi’s nationality, links to China: ‘pure ignorance’
- During Chew’s testimony before US lawmakers about the harms of social media on children, he was pressed repeatedly by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas
- Netizens criticised the lawmaker over his line of questioning, with one describing it as ‘low-key racist’. Another user said: ‘Just because he looks Chinese does not mean he’s from China’
Video clips of a United States senator’s persistent grilling of TikTok’s Singaporean boss on his nationality and links to China’s Communist Party have sparked anger from online users in the island republic, with many criticising the politician’s racism and lack of understanding of Singapore.
Analysts who spoke to This Week in Asia said the exchange was likely to heighten the antipathy of Singaporeans towards US policy-makers, since such “anti-Chinese” rhetoric would rile up citizens in the multiracial city state with an ethnic Chinese majority.
TikTok’s CEO Chew Shou Zi, 41, on Wednesday appeared alongside the chief executives of tech firms Discord, Meta, Snap and X to testify before American lawmakers over concerns about the harmful effects of social media on children.
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TikTok CEO denies ties to China’s Communist Party in heated exchange with US senator
However, Singaporeans following Wednesday’s hearing online were most incensed by the way Chew was questioned about his nationality and affiliations with the Chinese government.
“You said today, as you often say, that you live in Singapore. Of what nation are you a citizen?” asked Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
Despite Chew stating he was Singaporean, Cotton continued to press him. “Are you a citizen of any other nation?” he asked, and followed up with whether Chew had ever applied for Chinese citizenship and if he held a Singaporean passport.