Beijing will abide by Chinese laws and regulations on matters related to the social network TikTok. This was stated by the press secretary of the Chinese Embassy in the US, Liu Pengyu, in connection with the statement of US President Donald Trump that “a group of very wealthy people“ is ready to acquire TikTok from the Chinese company ByteDance.
“TikTok has been operating in the United States for many years and is very popular among American users. It has played a positive role in increasing employment and consumption in the United States“, Liu Pengyu emphasized. “We have always hoped that the United States would listen to reason and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for market participants from all countries.“
Earlier on Sunday, Trump told Fox News: “By the way, we have a buyer for TikTok. I think I might need China's approval. I think President Xi will probably give it“.
Trump said he would be ready to name the buyers “in about two weeks“. “They are very, very wealthy people. They are a group of very wealthy people,“ the president added, without providing details.
On June 19, Trump said he had extended a 90-day delay to block the short-video service in the United States until September 17. It has been about five months since a law that would have banned TikTok in the United States went into effect unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold it. Trump signed an executive order after taking office on January 20 that would have delayed the platform’s ban in the United States by at least 75 days. At the time, he told reporters that the United States should have the right to half of TikTok, but did not explain exactly what that meant.
Trump has repeatedly said that he “has a warm relationship” with the platform, as the “votes of young American users” contributed to his victory in the November 2024 presidential election. Liu Pengyu previously compared the situation surrounding a possible ban on TikTok in the United States to a robbery.
The 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, signed a law in 2024 requiring ByteDance to sell or cease operations of TikTok in the United States by January 19, 2025. According to media reports, the Washington administration has been trying to find bidders for a 50% stake in TikTok.