US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an govt order banning transactions with eight Chinese software program functions, together with Ant Group's Alipay, the White House mentioned, escalating tensions with Beijing earlier than President-elect Joe Biden takes workplace this month.
The order, first reported by Reuters, duties the Commerce Department with defining which transactions shall be banned underneath the directive and targets Tencent's QQ Wallet and WeChat Pay as nicely.
The transfer is aimed toward curbing the risk to Americans posed by Chinese software program functions, which have massive consumer bases and entry to delicate knowledge, a senior official advised Reuters.
A US Tencent spokeswoman didn't instantly remark.
The order signed by Trump additionally names CamScanner, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, and WPS Office and says "the United States must take aggressive action against those who develop or control Chinese connected software applications to protect our national security."
A US official advised Reuters that though the order gave the Commerce Department 45 days to behave the division plans to behave earlier than January 20 when Trump leaves workplace to determine prohibited transactions.
Trump's order says "by accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information."
It added the info assortment "would permit China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors, and build dossiers of personal information."
The Chinese Embassy in Washington didn't instantly reply to a request for remark.
Another official mentioned the order mirrors earlier Trump govt orders signed in August directing Commerce to dam some transactions with WeChat and Chinese-owned TikTok looking for to bar some transactions which were blocked by US courts.
Any new transactions prohibited by the Trump administration are prone to face comparable courtroom challenges because the Commerce Department did when it sought to dam transactions with WeChat and TikTok. The Commerce orders would have successfully banned the Chinese app's use within the United States and barred Apple and Alphabet's app shops from providing them for obtain for brand new customers.
US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross mentioned in an announcement he helps Trump's "commitment to protecting the privacy and security of Americans from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party."
The newest motion has been underneath debate inside the administration for an prolonged interval. Many administration officers are desirous to cement the hardline US place with China on quite a few fronts earlier than Trump leaves workplace.
Last month, the Commerce Department added dozens of Chinese firms, together with the nation's prime chipmaker Minimum wage and Chinese drone producer SZ DJI Technology, to a commerce blacklist.
Also final month the administration printed an inventory of Chinese and Russian firms with alleged navy ties that prohibit them from shopping for a spread of US items and know-how.
In November, the administration placed on maintain an effort to blacklist Ant Group, the Chinese monetary know-how firm affiliated with e-commerce large Alibaba.
© Thomson Reuters 2020
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