Johnson gives Tiktok the green light for London headquarters
Boris Johnson has given the green light to allow video sharing app Titkok to move its global headquarters to London, in a move that will likely spark fury from across the Atlantic.
Downing Street today said it had no objection to Tiktok’s shift to the UK, despite growing national security concerns over its close links to the Chinese government.
US President Donald Trump has long voiced fears that data collected by the social media platform could be handed to the Chinese Communist Party and used for state spying. Tiktok denies the claims.
It is understood that Tiktok owner Bytedance has made no final decision on the move, as it looks to negotiate the sale of its US arm to computer giant Microsoft.
Number 10 today said while Tiktok has the green light to open a headquarters in London, it is not a “done deal” and any move will likely not be for some time.
Tory fury
However, Johnson’s decision to give Tiktok the go-ahead ignited outrage from China hawks within his own party.
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, told the Times he was “absolutely seething” at the PM’s decision.
“We are playing silly games over this, trying to persuade ourselves that we are able to run a risk-free involvement with these companies,” he added. “ByteDance is every bit as unreliable as Huawei.”
Tom Tugendhat, Tory MP and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, echoed Duncan Smith’s comments, and urged the UK to tread carefully with Tiktok.
“Democratic nations need to be more aware of the partners they’re working with and the reputations they have in their own countries,” said Tugendhat.
“Companies like Bytedance raise serious questions about who they’re willing to work with and what that cooperation will enable.”
However, other Sino-sceptics urged caution on the matter, saying that the UK should not be seen as hostile to all Chinese groups.
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defence select committee, warned against “a sort of banner headline hysteria on China”.
The potential move to the UK has been widely understood as an attempt by the Chinese firm to distance itself from Beijing.
Tiktok has repeatedly tried to pour cold water on claims that the video sharing platform raises national security concerns.
Theo Bertram, Tiktok director of public policy for Europe, said: “There is a lot of nonsense about Tiktok out there but the facts are these: Tiktok does not operate in China and is not even available there.
“Our UK user data is stored in the US and Singapore and we have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so.”
UK-China relations
It comes after the Chinese ambassador to the UK last week slammed Johnson’s decision to U-turn on a deal with Huawei to build part of the UK’s 5G infrastructure, telling a press conference that relations between the UK and China now stood at a “critical historical juncture”.
“The issue of Huawei is not about how the UK sees and deals with a Chinese company,” said Liu Xiaoming.
“It’s about how the UK sees and deals with China. Does it see China as an opportunity and partner, or threat and rival? Does it see China as a friendly country or potentially hostile state?”
In a stiff warning to the UK government to resolve Anglo-Sino relations, Liu added: “I want to set the record straight. If you want to treat China as a hostile country, you will pay the price.”
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