China Would Rather See TikTok Go the Way of Vine Than Bow to U.S. Pressure: Report - Gizmodo

The international game of chicken between China and the Trump administration over TikTok is starting to feel like an episode of “The Bachelor” at this point, with suitors like Microsoft, Twitter, and Walmart competing for the app’s U.S. assets in the face of a possible ban. Apparently, though, China would rather choose option d) None of the above.

Chinese officials reportedly believe that capitulating to the Trump administration’s demands would undermine the authority of both ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, and Beijing by making them appear weak, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters Friday on condition of anonymity.

Last month, China revised its technology export list for the first time in 12 years to require a federal license for exporting “technology based on data analysis for personalized information recommendation services,” which sounds an awful lot like what TikTok uses.

When asked about President Donald Trump and the TikTok deal at a press briefing Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused the U.S.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with all this drama, Trump and other federal officials claim that Beijing has been leveraging TikTok to spy on its U.S.