Array
China seems to be gearing up for a fight to preserve its effective control of TikTok. Yesterday a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman compared Congress to bandits.
At a news conference in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the vote on the bill “runs contrary to the principles of fair competition and justice”.
“When someone sees a good thing another person has and tries to take it for themselves, this is entirely the logic of a bandit,” Mr Wang added.
Another Chinese official, commerce ministry spokesperson He Yadong, said that China would “take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests”.
Not exactly. Bandits may take something from you that they want, but they don’t usually negotiate a fair market price to pay you for what they’ve taken. The bill passing through congress would required ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US owner. It would not require them to simply hand it over for free. Indeed, there are already people lining up to buy it if the bill passes.
Steven Mnuchin, an investment banker who served as treasury secretary under President Donald Trump, said he was getting a group of investors together to potentially buy TikTok, although he did not specify who. He also did not share a potential valuation for the app.
“I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “This needs to be controlled by U.S. business.”…
Bobby Kotick stepped down from his role at Activision Blizzard in December. Now, he is purportedly seeking partners to join him in a potential acquisition of TikTok, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed sources.
