The United States has reportedly blocked Bytedance from selling TikTok if they want to continue operating in the country. The reason that TikTok will sell data to China for espionage purposes is often used even though TikTok has denied it several times.
The Chinese government has issued an official statement protesting the proliferation of TikTok sales. A spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce said the sale of the company was seen as a security risk to China and would have a negative impact on investment in the United States by other countries.
This is the second time China has voiced its objections to the sale of TikTok with the first time it was done when the US was still under the Trump administration three years ago. According to China, technology such as algorithms developed in China cannot be arbitrarily sold without the government's permission.
The same reason has been used by the United States to block the sale of 5G technology, chip manufacturing technology and artificial intelligence technology to China over the past four years. The tech war between the U.S. and China is heating up with many moths caught in the middle.