I appreciate creating transparency at home, and recognise the probmematic relationship the Chinese government has with TikTok, but people should, while reading this, keep in mind that States have a valid and recognised interest in representing the interests of of their companies abroad.
What's happening with TikTok is obviously part of a wider push against Chinese companies, and I don't think it's per se nefarious for China to make representations for them. Yes, yes, technically they're not a Chinese company, yes, it does act as an example of how the precise relationship is murky, uncertain, and carries risks for the U.S.
But I'd ask that people reading this try and have cognitive empathy and self-awareness and recognise that the U.S. and other countries would be doing the exact same thing, and have done the exact same thing many times.
Let's just keep our heads on our shoulders about all this.
But have WhatsApp, Facebook … in china. They have effectively ban. Why we have a chinese firm in USA freely influence politics and even doa bit late push to congressman about themselves.
As old chinese would say … be careful of what you do to other, or else they will do it to you.
Of course, that is a fair criticism. However the American government has repeatedly made representations on behalf of American companies and even negotiated entire trade deals with provisions for specific American companies effectively embedded. So it's important to keep that in mind is all I'm saying.
The “But China is evil”-narrative is silly. Facebook isn’t banned in China, they just have to comply with the law in the land, just like TikTok is doing in the US.
China has not forced through the sale of Facebook to a Chinese owner.
There are competing services that are more popular in China. There are also competing services to TikTok in the US, Reels and such, they just aren’t more popular.
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[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 33.3 ms ] threadWhat's happening with TikTok is obviously part of a wider push against Chinese companies, and I don't think it's per se nefarious for China to make representations for them. Yes, yes, technically they're not a Chinese company, yes, it does act as an example of how the precise relationship is murky, uncertain, and carries risks for the U.S.
But I'd ask that people reading this try and have cognitive empathy and self-awareness and recognise that the U.S. and other countries would be doing the exact same thing, and have done the exact same thing many times.
Let's just keep our heads on our shoulders about all this.
As old chinese would say … be careful of what you do to other, or else they will do it to you.
And when we have love Soviet Union to do …