Yes, by mirroring China’s authoritarianism and restricting the freedom of Americans. I’m living overseas and now my government is telling me I can’t use WeChat? Telling me who I can and cannot trade with, etc.
Restrictions on trade with China are attacks on our freedom.
Private chats can contain sensitive material that could be used to extort/blackmail government officials and/or business leaders, and in-app payments can be used for tax evasion, money laundering and bypassing sanctions. That in combination with the fact that TenCent or any large Chinese corporation is essentially an extension of the government means that WeChat can very plausibly become a threat to national security if it gains widespread adoption.
While I agree with your stance that this is infringing on personal freedoms of American citizens, and I too wish our leaders wouldn't always so eagerly infringe on personal freedoms in the name of national security, the national security claim itself does have merit.
The military and government officials can avoid use of the apps, without banning them for Americans. As they have before WeChat, and before the Internet.
I think the notion that WeChat is a threat to national security is honestly ridiculous. National security is a legal excuse to do things Trump otherwise wouldn’t be able to do in his pursuit of a trade war.
There's no way to predict in advance who's going to become a government official. When they do, and if they used WeChat before then, the damage is done. Material on those close to the officials can also be used against them in similar manner.
Again, not condoning the restriction of personal freedoms, but the national security angle is not totally without merit.
Yes, this. There are very few degrees of separation in social networks and people leak personal and private information to social networks all the time. It can and will be used against you. It can also be used as a propaganda outlet. Social media has already shown its impressive abilities to manipulate people's emotions and behaviors, in mass numbers.
You are refusing to look at the bigger picture. China is at a silent war with western countries -it has been for decades. Tech is the backbone of China. We have to hit them where it hurts in order to contain them, otherwise you lose much more than "your ability to trade". China just recently passed a law criminializing anybody outside China - of any nationality - criticizing China or its regime.
While people like you whine about your chat app, it can be a matter of life and death if China is allowed to continue.
My understanding is almost all countries have laws that apply to their citizens abroad. If you don't like it, you're welcome to renounce your American citizenship (at a price)
It is absolutely within the purview of a Sovereign Nation to decide, within the confines of relevant statutes, what companies are allowed to operate within its borders. Trade restrictions are absolutely normal, and are well inline with established practices. What are economic sanctions, after all, but a restriction on the freedom to conduct commerce?
A widely held belief is both that free trade is good, when both parties engage in it, and that when one party prohibits it the other party is correct in doing the same. This is why reciprocating sanctions and tarrifs is standard practice.
For example, Canada just today announced tarrifs on some US goods in response to the US putting tarrifs on some Canadian goods. That's not because we don't want free trade with the US, it's because free trade only works if it's reciprocal.
Certainly: CCP has been able to fool the world for long enough. US policy of hoping that China would open up in the long run has proven to be extremely naive.
If by policy you mean trade policy, yes. By any another metric, probably not. Certainly not policies on freedom for instance, if you value that sort of thing. It's time the United States levels the trade game with China.
And this is where credibility matters. Do other countries believe that this is true, or do they believe that Trump is doing this because TikTok is full of teens & comedians that have made him look foolish?
