China is unlikely to approve an "unfair" deal Oracle and Walmart said they have struck with ByteDance over the future of video-sharing app TikTok, the state-backed Global Times newspaper said in an editorial.
The American majors have said they would buy into a new, mainly United States-owned company, TikTok Global, with a board of directors comprised mainly of Americans, as the parties work to pacify the administration of US President Donald Trumpwhich had planned to ban TikTok in the country on national security grounds.
In contrast, ByteDance has said TikTok Global would be its US subsidiary, with 80 per cent ownership.
"It's clear that these articles (terms) extensively show Washington's bullying style and hooligan logic. They hurt China's national security, interests and dignity," the newspaper said in an editorial in its English edition published late on Monday. It was as well carried in its Chinese edition.
"From the information provided by the US, the deal is unfair. It caters to the unreasonable demands of Washington. It's hard for us to believe that Beijing will approve such an agreement," the editorial added, echoing comments on Twitter the same evening from the paper's editor-in-chief Hu Xijin.
Responding to comments Mr Trump made to Fox News about how TikTok Global was going to be "totally controlled" by Oracle, Mr Hu said yesterday on Twitter: "Stop extorting. You think TikTok is a company from a small country?
"There's no way the Chinese government will accept your demand. You can ruin TikTok's US business, if US users do not object, but you can't rob it and turn it into a US baby."
The Global Times is a tabloid published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, but doesn't speak on behalf of the party and government, unlike its parent publication.
The Chinese government has largely refrained from directly commenting on the details of the deal, although the Foreign Ministry has said the US should offer a fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies.
Reuters reported this month, citing sources, that Beijing opposed a forced sale of TikTok's US operations by ByteDance, and would prefer to see the short-video app shut down in the US.
The deal requires approval from regulators in both Beijing and Washington, ByteDance has said.
REUTERS