Chinese officials said Thursday they would strongly oppose any US plans to force ByteDance to sell TikTok. The Chinese also argue that such an application would damage the confidence of potential investors in the United States.

It is China’s first strong position after media reported that the Biden administration would like to ban TikTok in the US if it cannot be forced to sell TikTok to Western companies. The idea is that the ties between TikTok and China are completely severed.

The US considers TikTok a national security threat due to its close ties to China. The American press wrote that this is ByteDance’s ultimatum: sell TikTok or we will do everything possible to block TikTok in the US. More than a tenth of the world’s TikTok users are in the US.

“If the news is true, China will unequivocally deny it,” said Shu Jiting, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce. The Chinese say the forced sale will lead to a sharp decline in investor confidence around the world when it comes to raising money in the US.

The Chinese official also said that the forced sale would mean a transfer of technology and could only be done in accordance with Chinese law and with the permission of the Chinese government.

“The Chinese government will make a decision only by reference to the law,” said a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, TIME.com

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