WASHINGTON (US) – Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, said on Monday that Microsoft Corp could divest its holdings in China in case it wants to buy Chinese app TikTok.
“So the question is, is Microsoft going to be compromised?” Navarro told CNN. “Maybe Microsoft could divest its Chinese holdings?”
President Donald Trump has agreed to allot China’s ByteDance 45 days to discuss the sale of TikTok to Microsoft.
Under ByteDance, TikTok poses a risk to national security, say US officials, because of the personal data it handles. The president said on Friday he was planning to ban TikTok after dismissing the idea of a sale to Microsoft.
Earlier, Navarro had told Fox News Channel that any potential buyer of TikTok that has China operations could be a problem.
He pointed to Microsoft’s Bing search engine and Skype platform, saying they “effectively are enablers of Chinese censorship, surveillance and monitoring.”
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field