Trump announces deal with China to allow TikTok to continue operating in US
USA: US President Donald Trump has announced a deal with China to allow the TikTok platform to continue operating in the United States.
Trump said he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to confirm the details of an agreement to avoid a ban on the popular video-sharing app in the US.
“We have a group of very big companies that want to buy it. And you know, the kids want it so badly,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
“I had parents calling me up. They don’t want it for themselves, they want it for their kids. They say, if I don’t get it done, they are in big trouble with their kids. And I think it’s great. I hate to see value like that thrown out the window,” he said.
Trump signed an executive order later on Tuesday extending until December 16 a deadline for TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest from the platform or face the promised ban.
Trump, who has credited TikTok with helping him win young voters in November’s presidential election, did not provide specific details on the nature of the deal.
The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the Chinese ownership stake in TikTok would be reduced to less than 20 percent under the proposed agreement.
China’s People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, hailed the deal as an example of “cooperation for mutual benefit”.
“China’s commitment to safeguarding national interests and the legitimate rights of Chinese enterprises remains unwavering,” the newspaper said in a commentary.
It will lawfully process matters such as technology export approvals and intellectual property licensing rights related to TikTok,” the newspaper added.
Yan Liang, an economics professor at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, said the reported details of the deal raised questions about what China would get in return for divesting.
