This is theft of a Chinese company, state-backed paper says

Aug 5, 2020 04:20 GMT  ·  By

United States President Donald Trump warned TikTok would get banned unless taken over by an American company, and now Microsoft is expected to purchase the Internet sensation by September 15.

And while Microsoft is working at full speed to complete the deal, with President himself giving the go-ahead for the negotiations, China isn’t necessarily pleased with what’s happening.

China Daily, the state-backed newspaper, published an editorial to comment on how TikTok has been “bullied” by the United States to eventually force the parent company give up and transfer ownership to an American firm.

China won’t just sit and watch TikTok being taken over by an American company, the newspaper explains, adding that the Beijing government has “plenty of ways to respond if the administration carries out its planned smash and grab,” as per a report from Reuters.

Growing tension

The growing tension between China and the United States could lead to new sanctions imposed by the Beijing officials, and many believe that Apple could be one the first victims.

The Cupertino-based tech giant has long been described as a potential target for China should the trade war with the United States not coming to an end, and while Apple has so far escaped without any sanctions In the Chinese market, there’s a chance this could all change if TikTok is eventually purchased by Microsoft.

The Redmond-based software company has recently announced that it plans to reach an outcome over TikTok by September 15, so a decision on whether ByteDance’s service would be purchased or not should be made in approximately one month.

President Trump repeatedly warned that TikTok would eventually be banned in the United States unless purchased by an American company. The US government itself is involved in the takeover talks, Microsoft confirmed.