China mocks TikTok ban on US government devices, asks why 'top superpower' fears 'young people app'
Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called the US 'unsure of itself' for banning 'young people's favorite app'
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Chinese officials are mocking the White House's decision to ban the TikTok app from government devices, calling the move an abuse of power.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning commented on the social media app's ban during a Tuesday press conference when asked for comment on the issue.
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TikTok application on the screen of an Apple iPhone XR (iStock / iStock)
"How unsure of itself can the world’s top superpower be to fear a young people’s favorite app like that?" Mao asked. "The U.S. has been over-stretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to suppress foreign companies."
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young instructed federal agencies on Monday to develop a plan to delete TikTok from all government devices and systems within 30 days, according to a memo obtained by FOX Business.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen at the end of the Chinese Communist Party's 20th Party Congress on a giant screen a commercial district of Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province. (Chinatopix via AP / AP Newsroom)
The directive comes after Congress passed the "No TikTok on Government Devices Act" as part of the massive 4,115-page government funding bill in December, which instructed the Office of Management and Budget to ban the app.
"We firmly oppose those wrong actions," Mao said of the act. "The U.S. government should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop suppressing the companies and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies in the U.S."
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Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget nominee for President Biden, speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Feb. 1, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Lawmakers have increasingly sounded the alarm on TikTok, an enormously popular short form video app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
Dozens of Republican and Democratic governors have already banned the app on state-owned devices.
FOX Business' Paul Best contributed to this report.