Government divided over TikTok plans for London HQ

A GOVERNMENT split has emerged over plans for the Chinese social media giant TikTok to set up its global headquarters in London.

Ministers are increasingly divided over whether to welcome any move by the multibillion-pound video-sharing app to establish its main base outside of China in the UK.

Civil servants in the Department for International Trade had last month begun “gearing up in a major way” to provide an endorsement of the move, amid ongoing negotiations with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

It was viewed so positively by officials that it was even suggested to No10 that Boris Johnson could incorporate the announcement into a speech, according to one source familiar with the negotiations. “Then the politics took over,” they added.

The initial enthusiasm for TikTok has now been overshadowed by escalating tensions between the UK and China over Huawei, Hong Kong and the treatment of the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province.

Insiders claim that figures in No10 are also split, with Boris Johnson facing calls from the group of backbench Tory China “hawks” not to approve any statement supporting the move.

Ratcheting up pressure on the Prime Minister today, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, writing for The Telegraph’s website, said that issuing a statement of support would be an “act of sheer madness”.

Approached for comment, a ByteDance spokesman said only that it was “evaluating the possibility of establishing TikTok’s headquarters outside of the US, to better serve our global users.”

Hitting back at allegations levelled by its critics, TikTok added that there was a “lot of nonsense out there, which is completely groundless.” They added: “TikTok does not operate in China and UK user data is stored in the US and Singapore. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.”