DULUTH, Minnesota — 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden recognized the national security threat presented by Chinese technology companies one day after refusing to call the country an “opponent.”
“I think that it’s a matter of genuine concern that TikTok Chinese operation has access to hundreds of millions, over 100 million young people, particularly the United States of America. And that’s a concern,” Biden told reporters Friday in Duluth.
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President Trump’s Commerce Department announced Friday that it would begin blocking aspects of popular Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok and messaging app WeChat in the U.S. starting Sunday, including updates and functionality.
Biden urged Trump to be clear in his messaging regarding China. He said if he were president, he would work with international allies to pressure China regarding internet access within its borders, discouraging censorship and sweeping surveillance of its own citizens as well as foreigners.
During a CNN town hall Thursday, Biden declined to label Russia an “enemy” and China an “opponent.”
“I view China as a competitor,” Biden said Thursday night. “A serious competitor.”
Trump’s restrictions could be rolled back if ByteDance, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, reaches a deal for the app’s U.S. operations to be owned by a U.S. firm that also satisfies the administration.
ByteDance this month rejected a purchase offer from Microsoft and Walmart, instead agreeing to allow Oracle to become TikTok’s “trusted technology partner” in the U.S.
ByteDance and TikTok have insisted that they have not and would not share TikTok user data to the Chinese government, but China’s 2017 national intelligence law compels all Chinese companies to help Chinese intelligence services if asked — and to keep it secret.
