On Wednesday, President Joe Biden revoked a Trump-era order which banned the Chinese-owned apps ByteDance's TikTok and WeChat
According to the language of the order itself, such a review is necessary given U.S. consumer's expanded use of "connected software applications," owned, developed, and operated and "subject to the jurisdiction of a foreign adversary, including the People's Republic of China."
"The challenges that we're addressing with this EO is that certain countries, including China, do not share these commitments and values and are instead working to leverage digital technologies and American data in ways that present unacceptable national security lists," said a senior administration official on Wednesday.
Interestingly according to another senior official, the forced sale of TikTok to a U.S. interest, which Trump put into motion, remains ongoing and will not be impacted by Wednesday's order.
It is also interesting that Biden signed the order directly before his departure for the latest G7 conference in St. Ives, U.K. At the conference, Biden has heavily advocated for China's censure based on a steady stream of alleged human rights abuses stemming from that country's Xijiang province.
Biden's framework will be more flexible than Trump's and will allow the administration to take a more nuanced approach to specific risks posed by specific companies, according to one U.S. official. According to a senior official, the order automatically authorizes the Commerce Department to begin vetting companies and their digital services.
Within 120 days of the order's signature, the Commerce Secretary is expected to provide recommendations based on findings from U.S. Intelligence agencies, with specific policy and legislative recommendations to follow 60 days thereafter.
Unlike former President Donald Trump's order, Biden's does not target specific companies, potentially leaving more Chinese and foreign-owned technology companies in limbo about a pending security review.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin stressed last Thursday that China would continue to protect the interests of its budding technology companies.
"China uses the U.S. side to earnestly respect the principles of market economy and international and economic trade rules; stop overstretching the concept of national security; stop abusing state power to suppress Chinese high-tech companies; and treat Chinese enterprises in a fair, just and non-discriminatory manner."
Oddly enough, neither TikTok nor WeChat feature in the language of the new order. At a briefing, when pressed as to whether or not the two popular apps would get swept up in the pending review, administration officials that they might be, declining to say whether or not the new order still left both of them subject to a potential ban.
