Trump Bans Deals Linked To TikTok, WeChat

US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping bans on US transactions with China's ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent, operator of the WeChat app, starting in 45 days, in a major escalation of tensions with Beijing.

The executive orders come as the Trump administration said this week it was stepping up efforts to purge "untrusted" Chinese apps from US digital networks and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat "significant threats".

Tiktok, the hugely popular video-sharing app, has come under fire from US lawmakers and the administration over national security concerning data collection, amid intensified tension between Washington and Beijing.

"The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security," the order said.

"The following actions shall be prohibited beginning 45 days after the date of this order... any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with ByteDance Ltd."

In the other, Trump said WeChat "automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans' personal and proprietary information."

The order would effectively ban WeChat in the United States in 45 days by barring "to the extent permitted under applicable law, any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with Tencent Holdings Ltd."

Tencent and ByteDance declined to comment.

Trump had earlier overnight intensified his attacks on China for its handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 700,000 people worldwide.

Trump, whose public approval ratings have fallen amid continued Covid-19 infection rates and economic woes, sought to shift the focus to Beijing, claiming again, without evidence, that it may have intentionally let the virus spread globally.

The Republican president, who is trailing Democrat Joe Biden in national polls ahead of the November 3 election, said it was a "disgrace" that Beijing had limited the spread of the virus at home but allowed it to reach the rest of the world.

"What China did is a terrible thing ... whether it was incompetence or on purpose," he said, as his administration continued to crack down on Chinese firms and exports.

Trump signed an executive order overnight on Thursday aimed at yanking back supply chains from China for key ingredients and supplies used to make medicines and medical equipment. (AFP, Reuters)

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