Beijing is opposed to the forced sale of TikTok operations in the US by its Chinese owner BeteDance, and would like to see a short video banned in the United States, three people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
ByteDance has been in talks to sell the TikTok American business to potential buyers including Microsoft and Oracle since US President Donald Trump threatened last month that he would block the service if it was not sold.
Trump has given ByteDance a deadline in mid-September to finalize the deal.
However, Chinese officials believe the forced sale will make ByteDance and China look weak when it comes under pressure from Washington, sources said, citing the condition of non-disclosure given the sensitivity of the situation.
ByteDance in a statement sent to Reuters said the Chinese government had never suggested that it should ban TikTok in the United States or other markets.
Two sources say China is willing to use the updates made in its export technology list on August 28 to delay any agreement reached by ByteDance, if appropriate.
The Office of the Council of China and its Foreign Ministers and Commerce did not immediately respond to requests for comment submitted after working hours.
Asked Friday about Trump and TikTok, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference that the United States was abusing the concept of national security, urging him to stop oppressing foreign companies.
Conflict between forces
Reuters news agency reported that TikTok buyers would discuss the four ways to make ByteDance available.
In the meantime, ByteDance could move forward with the sale of U.S. TikTok assets without permission from the Chinese Minister of Commerce to sell them without key algorithms.
ByteDance and its founder Zhang Yiming have been embroiled in a conflict between the two world powers.
Trump last month issued two administrative orders requiring ByteDance to sell U.S. TikTok assets. Or its face is banned in a country, where the app is very popular among teenagers.
U.S. officials They criticized the security and privacy of the app, suggesting that user data could be shared with Beijing. TikTok has said it will not comply with any request to share user information with Chinese authorities.
Beijing said it strongly opposed Trump's orders and on August 28 moved to give himself the opportunity to do so, reviewing a list of technologies that would need to be approved by the Chinese government before it could be exported. Experts say the recommendations of the TikTok algorithm will fall under this list.
Chinese authorities said last week the rules were not applied to certain companies but also guaranteed their right to enforce them.
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