Haven't adopted discriminatory measures against Indian products, says China on apps banned by India
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The Chinese Commerce ministry said it hoped India corrects its discriminatory actions against Chinese companies immediately after the Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps including Tik Tok.
As India banned 59 Chinese apps on Monday, China's commerce ministry said that China has not "adopted any restrictive and discriminatory measures against Indian products and services".
The Commerce ministry said it hoped India corrects its "discriminatory actions against Chinese companies immediately."
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said in an online briefing that India's action was in violation of WTO rules.
In a similar move, China's foreign ministry had earlier said it was "strongly concerned" over India's ban on Chinese apps.
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India had banned several Chinese apps including the popular Tik Tok, UC browser, ShareIT, Baidu map, Helo, WeChat, Weibo, Clash of Kings.
"This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace," the government had said.
The United States backed India's move with the secretary of state Mike Pompeo saying that "India's ban on certain mobile apps that can serve as appendages of the CCP surveillance state."
"India's clean app approach will boost India's sovereignty and will also boost India's integrity and national security, as the Indian government cell itself has stated," the US secretary of state asserted.
Tik Tok defended its position in a statement and said that the company "continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government."
The company which has huge followers in India further added that it had "democratized the internet" by making it available in 14 Indian languages by giving a platform to artists, storytellers and performers.
