China blasted the US government with its supposed "robber's logic" in pushing to ban ByteDance and TikTok in the country.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Thursday accused Congress of "unfairly suppressing foreign companies" and bringing down competition by masking it as "national security" concerns.
China, along with Russia, North Korea, and Iran, were among the mentioned "foreign adversaries" in the bill.
The spokesperson claimed that it "never asked and will never ask" its global business to give its users' data to the government, contrasting earlier assertions from US lawmakers.
Risks of China tampering with TikTok's US user data and interfering with its upcoming elections have been cited as among the primary reasons for the rapid push for the bill aimed to ban the app in the country.
Beijing-based ByteDance currently owns TikTok, although its American users' data and algorithm are stored within Texas-based Oracle Corp's cloud servers.
The Financial Times first reported Wang's statement.
Also Read : TikTok is Being Used by Chinese Gov't to Meddle with Elections, Intelligence Report Claims
Chinese Gov't Accused of Employing AI to Spy on Foreign Agencies
China's recent response follows the growing gap between the two superpower counties as both hurl accusations at each other over technology surveillance.
Just last month, a massive trove of documents was leaked to the public showing one of China's partnered AI firms using its technology to spy on foreign governments, institutions, and companies.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has linked China with cybercriminal groups attempting to breach into US agencies and critical facilities on several occasions.
China has maintained that it has not directed the attacks and instead accused the US of spying on its people.
Amid accusations and rumors, China has yet to be caught collecting US users' data from ByteDance or directly from TikTok.
Read also: TikTok Ban and the US Government: A Case of Restrictions, State Control, and Espionage Fears
TikTok Ban Bill Set to Face Senate Panel
After passing the House of Representatives, the proposed Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act is scheduled to undergo a Senate hearing sometime soon.
US President Joe Biden has already expressed support for the bill, vowing to sign it as soon as it gets passed by the Senate.
As of writing, US senators are still divided on the matter as several lawmakers express fear of massive backlash from young voters if the bill gets passed.
At least 41 million Gen Zs are expected to participate in the upcoming 2024 US Presidential Elections in November.
