China concerned over India’s ban on 59 apps

BEIJING/NEW DELHI: A day after India banned 59 apps with Chinese links for engaging in activities which are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity” of the country, China on Tuesday voiced strong concern over the move, and said the Indian government has the responsibility to uphold the “legitimate and legal rights” of international investors.

India on Monday banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including the hugely popular TikTok and UC Browser, for engaging in “activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

Reacting to India’s ban of the Chinese apps at a Chinese Foreign Ministry briefing here, spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “China has noted the press release issued by the Indian side with strong concern and is now verifying the situation.” “I want to stress that the Chinese government always asks the Chinese businesses to abide by international rules, local laws and regulations in their business cooperation with foreign countries,” he said. “The Indian government has the responsibility to uphold the legitimate and legal rights of the international investors including the Chinese ones,” he added.

Will comply with ban: TikTok, Helo: Chinese short-video making app TikTok and vernacular social networking platform Helo who have millions of users in India on Tuesday said they are in the process of complying with the government order to ban 59 Chinese apps and are not sharing any data of Indian users with the Chinese government.