‘US isn’t seeking to sever economic ties with China’ Noem bans TikTok from state-owned devices

The United States isn’t seeking to sever economic ties with China - even as Washington takes steps to protect America’s technological and military prowess from Beijing, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. Speaking to reporters in advance of a speech Wednesday on the Biden administration’s China policy, Raimondo said: “We’re not seeking the decoupling from China. We want to promote trade and investment in areas that don’t threaten our core economic and national security interests or compromise human rights values.’’

Relations between the world’s two biggest economies have chilled over the last decade, partly because the communist government in Beijing has cracked down on dissent in Hong Kong and on Muslims in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

President Donald Trump imposed massive taxes on Chinese imports in a dispute over the strong-arm tactics - including the alleged theft of trade secrets - that Beijing has used to challenge America’s edge in technology. The Biden administration has kept Trump’s tariffs and has stepped up a campaign to keep the Chinese from acquiring sensitive technology that could speed its military buildup. Most notable was the decision last month to block exports of advanced computer chips to China. (AP)

South Dakota Gov Kristi Noem on Tuesday issued an executive order banning state employees and contractors from accessing the video platform TikTok on state-owned devices, citing its ties to China.

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020. It has been targeted by Republicans who say the Chinese government could access its user data like browsing history and location. US armed forces also have prohibited the app on military devices.

TikTok, which has exploded in popularity with a nearly addictive scroll of videos, has also struggled to detect ads that contain blatant misinformation about US elections, according to a recent report from nonprofit Global Witness and the Cybersecurity for Democracy team at New York University.

“The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform,” Noem said in a statement.

BytDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Noem’s order and statement.

TikTok Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Pappas, based in Los Angeles, has previously said the company protects all data of American users and that Chinese government officials have no access to it. (AP)