China accuses U.S. of violating WTO rules in TikTok, WeChat moves

摘要

Posted 10/2/2020. The U.S. violated World Trade Organization rules with its recently imposed restrictions on Chinese-owned social media platforms TikTok and WeChat, China argued on Friday in Geneva. At a WTO Council for Trade in Services meeting, China took issue with restrictions imposed by the U.S. as well as separate moves made by India. The measures "are clearly inconsistent with WTO rules," China insisted, according to a Geneva-based trade official. They "restrict cross-border trading services and violate the basic principles and objectives of the multilateral trading system," China added. An August executive order signed by President Trump directed the Chinese parent company of TikTok, a video-sharing app, to divest its U.S. operations. In September, Commerce Department regulations banned certain transactions for both TikTok and WeChat, a messaging app. The moves were made under the auspices of protecting U.S. national security interests - in particular, keeping U.S. user data from being harvested by Chinese companies.