China says US spreading disinformation, suppressing TikTok

FILE – The icon for the video sharing TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, on Feb. 28, 2023. China accused the United States on Thursday, March 16, of spreading disinformation and suppressing TikTok following reports that the Biden administration was calling for its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the popular video-sharing app. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

BEIJING (AP) — China is accusing the United States of spreading disinformation and suppressing TikTok following reports that the Biden administration was calling for its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the popular video-sharing app. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin says the U.S. has yet to present evidence that TikTok threatens its national security. Wang told reporters at a daily briefing Thursday that the U.S. was using the excuse of data security to abuse its power to suppress foreign companies. TikTok was dismissive Wednesday of a report in The Wall Street Journal that said the U.S. Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment was threatening a U.S. ban on the app unless its Beijing-based owner ByteDance Ltd. divested.