China has hit back at the US’s barring of a number of Chinese apps, including Alipay and Tencent’s offerings.
The China Foreign Ministry has commented that the country will take necessary steps to safeguard the legitimate rights of companies.
Yesterday, US president Donald Trump signed an order banning US transactions with eight Chinese software apps, including Ant Group’s Alipay in 45 days – even through he won’t be in office when this takes effect.
The executive order instructed the Commerce Department to draft rules outlining which payments and transactions will be outlawed. This will also impact QQ Wallet and WeChat Pay from Tencent, plus CamScanner, SHAREit, VMate and WPS Office.
According to commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, his department has begun carrying out the order. “I stand with President Trump’s commitment to protecting the privacy and security of Americans from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party,” he states.