China’ll not accept U.S.’ ‘theft’ of TikTok, says state media

China says it will not accept the U.S.’ “theft” of a Chinese technology company, state media reported on Tuesday.

The Trump administration’s pressuring of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company in China, to sell its U.S. operations to Microsoft or risk closure amounts to a “smash and grab,” the state-run China Daily newspaper wrote in an editorial.

Beijing has ways to retaliate against Washington’s pressure on the Chinese-owned short video app TikTok.

While Beijing will likely be “cautious” in imposing equivalent restrictions on U.S. companies in China, it has “plenty of ways” to retaliate, the paper said.

Microsoft said on Monday that it was in discussions with ByteDance to buy parts of TikTok after U.S. President Donald Trump gave the companies 45 days to reach a deal.

Trump had initially threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S. on national security grounds.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said over the weekend that Washington might take action “shortly” against TikTok and other Chinese companies believed to share data with the Chinese government.

ByteDance said in a statement late Sunday it was still committed to being a global company despite “complex and unimaginable difficulties” including the “tense” international political environment.