ByteDance CEO, Zhang Yiming, has released a pair of letters describing the internal processes of the ongoing negotiations regarding the potential sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations, as well as critiquing the United States Government’s actions as “unreasonable.” While the first letter stressed that the company was working day and night, the second letter featured criticisms of President Trump and the U.S. Government’s findings that TikTok poses a national security threat. Specifically, Yiming argues that the goal of the ban threat is not to force a sale, but to completely ban the application within the U.S.
ByteDance is in talks with Microsoft regarding an acquisition and the parties have been given until September 15 before Trump claims that a ban will be placed on TikTok’s U.S. operations. Yiming has further indicated in his recent letters that he feels that the company has no choice but to pursue a sale. Microsoft recently confirmed that talks were taking place and rumors have flown regarding other interested parties. Nonetheless the resolution of the ongoing controversy between the Chinese company, the Trump administration, and a potential American buyer remains uncertain.
As Bloomberg reports, Beijing has also made statements indicating the potential future retaliation against the United States’ very public attack on a Chinese company and attempt to acquire it. The BBC also reports that Chinese authorities are referring to the ongoing high pressure political and economic negotiations as “’theft.’” The high-pressure tactics being deployed against ByteDance have also been coupled with strange political pronouncements, such as Trump’s recent statement that a sale will need to include a sizable payment to the U.S. Treasury, due to his administration’s role in making it all happen.
The politics of today are truly extraordinary, especially so for TikTok. The ongoing crisis in the U.S. is merely one of multiple crises that TikTok has encountered recently. It has encountered an actual ban in India due to security concerns, as well as the threat thereof in Pakistan - due to concerns about immoral content. However, the ongoing brinksmanship in the U.S. is certainly the most novel as TikTok becomes a bargaining chip, or perhaps more aptly, a match, in a dangerous game between geopolitical rivals.
The company and CEO also face intense criticism in China as traitors, or as demonstrating weakness, in the face of U.S. pressure. The pressure at home and abroad increases the difficulty of the decisions that Yiming faces and his letter speaks to the anxiety and effects of the ongoing crisis upon ByteDance workers, referring to images of the company’s offices illuminated with people busy at work well into the early morning. The pressure is truly on.
How will China respond to the resolution that emerges from this tense politically tinged business dealing? The trade war is nothing new, but the spectacle of the TikTok offensive is likely to produce a particularly pronounced response, a potential outcome that reports of recent statements from the Chinese government make clear that the United States ought to expect. As the actors—China, Trump, ByteDance, and beyond—continue to navigate this novel situation of very public and boisterous business politics with global stakes, one hopes that the author of The Art of the Deal is able to make one without lasting negative repercussions for his “shareholders,” we the people.
Source: Bloomberg
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