Trump issues executive orders banning TikTok and WeChat in 45 days if…

US President Donald Trump has signed executive orders banning Chinese owned TikTok and WeChat operations in the country in 45 days if they are not sold by their Chinese-owned parent companies. He cited national security concerns as the main reason for the ban.

According to Trump in the TikTok ban order,

“TikTok, a video-sharing mobile application owned by the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., has reportedly been downloaded over 175 million times in the United States and over one billion times globally. TikTok automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users, including internet and other network activity information such as location data and browsing and search histories. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information — potentially allowing China track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.”

“TikTok also reportedly censors content that the Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive, such as content concerning protests in Hong Kong and China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities”

“Accordingly, I hereby order:… The following actions shall be prohibited beginning 45 days after the date of this order, to the extent permitted under applicable law: any transaction by any person, with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United State, with ByteDance Ltd. (a.k.a Zijie Tiaodong), Beijing, China, or its subsidiaries, in any such company any interest, as identified by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary)…”

On the WeChat order,

“WeChat, a messaging, social media, and electronic payment application owened by the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd., reportedly has over one billion users worldwide, including users in the United States. Like TikTok, automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information. In addition, he application captures the personal and proprietary information of Chinese nationals visting the United States, thereby allowing the Cinese Communist party a mechanism for keeping tabs on Chinese citizens who may be enjoying the benefits of a free society for the first time in their lives.”

“Accordingly, I hereby order:… The following actions shall be prohibited beginning 45 days after the date of this order, to the extent permitted under applicable law: any transaction by any person, with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United State, with Tencent Holdings Ltd. (a.k.a Téngxùn Kònggǔ Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī), shenzhen, China, or its subsidiaries, in any such company any interest, as identified by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary)…”

The President had stated that he was going to issue the ban on TikTok last week Saturday but there was no mention of WeChat as part of the ban. It was thought that he would rethink his decision when he agreed to the sale of TikTok after his talk with Microsoft’s Satya Nadella on the possible sale of TikTok to Microsoft.

In short, what this executive orders mean is TikTok and WeChat may not be able to appear on Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store in the United States. It also could make it illegal for U.S. companies to purchase advertising on TikTok.

These executive orders are the latest in the ongoing issues between Washington and Beijing clash on a number of issues, ranging from the novel coronavirus pandemic and Beijing’s policies in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, to the US’s support for Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.