US ambassador says Beijing stance on TikTok ban ‘supremely ironic’

WASHINGTON: The US ambassador to China said on Friday that Beijing’s position on a potential TikTok ban in the United States was “supremely ironic” given the ruling Communist Party’s censorship of online platforms within its borders.

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill on Wednesday that would force the wildly popular short-video app to break with its Chinese parent company or face a nationwide ban.China has sharply criticised the approval, slamming what it called Washington’s “bandit” mentality and accusing lawmakers of “unjustly suppressing foreign companies”.

US ambassador Nicholas Burns offered a rebuke on Friday, saying Beijing’s stance was unjustified given it blocks many Western web platforms from operating in the country.

“I find it supremely ironic that government officials here in China … have been criticising the United States for the debate we’re currently having on TikTok,” Burns said during an online seminar held by the East-West Centre, a US-based research organisation.

“They won’t even let TikTok be available to 1.4 billion Chinese,” he said in response to a question about the avenues for American public diplomacy in China.

China’s government tightly controls the spread of information online and scrubs out social media content it deems politically sensitive. Many Western platforms, including Google, Facebook and Instagram, are blocked from operating in the country.