Biden lifts ban on WeChat and TikTok, behind which lies the undercurrent of great power competition

On Wednesday, President Biden officially signed a bill to revoke the Trump-era ban on Chinese apps such as TikTok and WeChat. But at the same time, Biden issued an executive order to conduct a large-scale security review of foreign apps to ensure that they do not pose a threat to US national security.

The executive order does not target any company, but could deal a bigger blow to Chinese apps than the Trump administration's ban. The White House authorized the Commerce Department to begin a review immediately.

Biden administration officials said that unlike the Trump-era policy of suppressing individual companies, the executive order will more carefully examine the risks posed by applications related to hostile countries. Officials said they suspected that applications from China and other countries posed potential security risks, but the executive order signed by Trump was actually unenforceable. A federal court blocked Trump's order from taking effect. Senator Josh Hawley tweeted on Wednesday, commenting on Biden's move as "a presumptuous and wrong move. It also came with the tags #China's attempt to obtain personal information of American citizens and #China's growing corporate influence."

However, others are very optimistic about President Biden's executive order. Eric Sayers, a U.S.-China technology expert at the American Enterprise Institute, told WSJ, "This shows that the two presidents' concerns are actually the same. But the Biden administration has moved from the review stage to the action stage."

Beijing-based Bytedance Inc.’s TikTok has about 100 million users in the U.S., while Tencent Technology Co.’s WeChat also has scores of users in the country. Neither company has yet to respond.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, responded that "China will oppose all U.S. actions to abuse state power under the pretext of national security and suppress non-U.S. companies. We hope that the U.S. government can provide a fair, just and open business environment."

The White House announced that the executive order issued on Wednesday will review all apps that could be used for national military intelligence activities, including TikTok, WeChat and Alipay, especially WeChat users conducting commercial transactions in the United States.

The U.S.-China Business Council is conservative about the new executive order, saying that nothing is clear yet. But the organization also said that the White House should reach a global agreement on data flows and privacy issues. "Without international agreement protection, there is indeed a threat to privacy protection, which is not good for future economic growth in the United States and the world."

In February this year, the Biden administration stated that it would focus on privacy and security protection and focus on reviewing various national security initiatives during the Trump era.

The U.S. government issued a statement on Wednesday saying that TikTok will continue to be reviewed by a government panel for cross-border transactions. James Lewis, an expert on Chinese technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said, "If the review fails, TikTok will once again become a fish on the chopping block."

The executive order is still being refined. This move is a new measure of sanctions against China by the Biden administration. In March this year, the United States launched joint sanctions against China over the imprisonment of Muslims in Xinjiang. Last week, Biden continued the Trump-era ban on some large Chinese state-owned enterprises and some of their subsidiaries. On Tuesday, the Senate approved a $250 billion bill aimed at increasing technology research and development and reducing China's supply chain.

President Biden departs on Wednesday for meetings with European and NATO leaders and a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a trip aimed at mobilizing allies to take action against China.