CANADA’S CONSULATE IN SHANGHAI TOOK CANADIAN COMPANIES TO TECH GIANT BY TEDANCE’S OFFICES THIS WEEK, THE COMPANY BEHIND THE CONTROVERSIAL APP TIKTOK AND ITS CHINESE EQUIVALENT.

Diplomats acting like it’s 5 years ago, ex-ambassador says

OTTAWA • Canada’s consulate in Shanghai took Canadian companies to tech giant Bytedance’s offices this week, the company behind the controversial app Tiktok and its Chinese equivalent.

An invitation went out for the event recently, with Canadian companies offered the chance to visit Bytedance’s Shanghai offices. The company developed Tiktok, a social media app where users can create and share short videos, but there have been privacy concerns about the company’s products.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to ban Tiktok in America, forcing a sale of the company’s U.S. operations with discussion still underway. India has banned the app completely and there are concerns about the company’s requirements to share information and data with the Chinese government.

A recent Wall Street Journal story found Tiktok circumvented privacy protections built into Google phones with their app.

In addition to Tiktok, the company has a similar app that runs exclusively in China called Douyin, which is largely the same, but complies with Chinese censorship rules and stores information on Chinese servers. The invite sent by the trade commissioner service to Canadian business said the trip would be an opportunity to learn about that product.

Sylvain Leclerc, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said helping Canadian businesses grow overseas is the goal of the trade commission.

“The job of the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) is to help support Canadian companies in navigating foreign markets and helping them find opportunities to expand their reach,” he said. As normal practice, TCS visits companies based in foreign countries to connect Canadian businesses for export opportunities.”

Leclerc said at least 24 Canadian businesses attended the event and the company’s platform is a huge platform for marketing businesses in China.

“Bytedance’s Douyin platform counts more than 400 million daily users as of 2020 and constitutes an important marketing tool for foreign companies, including Canadian firms, selling through e-commerce channels in the China market.”

Former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney, who is now a distinguished fellow at the Munk School, said hosting an event like this suggests diplomats promoting trade aren’t thinking about how much relations have changed.

He said he understands wanting to get in front of a company with such a large reach, but there is a real need for caution on doing business in China.

“It’s tremendously tempting when you have a marquee Chinese firm to want to get closer to them. But the problem is, it’s a strategy that might have made sense four or five years ago, and has made less sense since.”

Canada’s relations with China have been strained since the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition warrant. In retaliation, China arrested Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig and has held them in custody since.

China has also retaliated with restrictions on the import of Canadian agricultural goods.

Mulroney said it is past the time that Canada’s missions in China should reflect the old relationship, and Canada needs to rethink how it deals with China.

“We’ve had a year and a half of these strained relations. You would expect we have spent that time thinking about what the future is going to look like.”

He said deciding not to do business in China, a major and growing economy, is a difficult decision, but the government can’t ignore everything that has gone on with the relationship.

“There’s a cost in not working with Chinese companies, I understand that. But there’s a cost of working with them that I think is greater. And that’s a larger Canadian debate that we haven’t had.”

He said for the businesses taking part it puts a Canadian government endorsement on Bytedance as safe.

“I’m not sure that if you polled the entire Canadian security establishment, they would agree with that.”

Natalie Hui, with the group Canadian Friends of Hong Kong, said she was shocked to learn the government would promote something like this.

“It is unacceptable for the Canadian Consulate to play the role of ‘marketing salesperson’ to promote Bytedance to Canadian businesses and to expose them to the unnecessary risks,” she said. “Quite the opposite, they should organize workshops to educate and warn Canadian businesses of problematic Chinese companies.”

IT’S ... TEMPTING WHEN YOU HAVE A MARQUEE CHINESE FIRM TO WANT TO GET CLOSER TO THEM.