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More importantly, such bans will force China to further develop its own information and communications technology (ICT) components and encourage its companies to concentrate on the domestic market. For example, in a survey asking Chinese mobile phone users whether they would choose to use an iPhone without access to WeChat or another kind of cellphone with WeChat access, they voted “by a margin of 20 to one” to keep WeChat and find another phone.
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However, the administration’s decisions will also hurt U.S. Its companies will lose overseas markets and, more broadly, key elements for technology research and development. In the short term, China will definitely suffer from the technology quarrel with the United States. Lyu Jinghua: The recent actions taken by the Trump administration against TikTok and WeChat, following those against Huawei and other Chinese technology companies, are producing effects that go far beyond the claimed concerns of national security. A true policy of zero risk tolerance, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seems to favor, would cause a severe technological and economic split. Americans’ personal information can be exposed to Chinese companies (and by extension, the Chinese government) through a variety of other means too, including consumer purchases, financial transactions, international travel, or data brokers and foreign intermediaries. app market is limited, but the logic of these actions could extend well beyond apps. Indeed, the relevant executive orders define the problem as “the spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China”-not just TikTok and WeChat.Ĭhina’s presence in the U.S. Banning them would therefore suggest the Trump administration has zero tolerance for Chinese apps in the United States. TikTok and WeChat are not fundamentally different from other Chinese apps they are simply more popular. If the ban has teeth, it would be the Trump administration’s strongest move yet toward technological decoupling from China.
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The Trump administration’s lack of a clearly stated strategy means the final rules could be broad or narrow, and many stakeholders are already seeking to shape them. companies) as well as obtain political advantages. This tactic is designed to gain leverage over China (and U.S. The Trump administration has announced many sweeping, high-profile measures against Chinese technologies and companies, only to delay their enforcement repeatedly while dangling waivers and exemptions. Jon Bateman: These moves are clearly important, but they cannot be fully assessed before they take effect. President Donald Trump’s recent moves against Chinese social media apps TikTok and WeChat? Are there likely to be spillover effects?
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