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U.S. wages war on Chinese software

Posted August. 04, 2020 07:45,   

Updated August. 04, 2020 07:45

한국어

It appears that more companies will be affected by the ongoing “software war” between the United States and China. Not long after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would ban “TikTok,” a Chinese video sharing app, from the United States, his administration hinted at the possibility of imposing strict regulations on other Chinese software such as “WeChat.” TikTok will complete negotiations with Microsoft to sell its U.S. operations by September 15.

“Chinese software companies doing business in the United States, whether it is Tiktok or WeChat, are feeding data directly to the Chinese Communist Party, their national security apparatus,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News Channel on Sunday. “There are countless more.” He then went on to say that President Trump would take action in the coming days. This suggests that not only Tiktok but also WeChat might face restrictions.

President Trump said Friday that he would use emergency economic powers or an executive order to ban TikTok in the United States starting as early as August 1, but the ban has not been imposed yet.

Microsoft, which reportedly put on pause the talks to acquire TikTok after President Trump said he would ban the app, said in a statement that it would move quickly to close the deal by September 15 with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. Reuters said that President Trump agreed to give ByteDance 45 days to complete the acquisition negotiations. Microsoft reportedly plans to buy TikTok service in Canada, Australia, New Zealand as well as the United States.


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