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© Thomson Reuters 2020.China warns Japan a TikTok ban would affect relations
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© Thomson Reuters 2020.
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Mitsuo Matsuyama
Definitely China is afraid that everyone will isolate them.
Strangerland
What makes you think that?
BlackFlagCitizen
That's rich coming from a country that continues to block usage of apps and websites from other countries in China.
yoshisan88
Somebody please remind the Chinese government that people cannot use Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (I think) etc in China. Now you are unhappy that other countries has done the same thing to you. By the way, if TikTok is just a civilian run company, why is the Chinese government try to help it?
Peter Neil
Trump dislikes TikTok because the US users are mostly young people and not his supporters. He's carrying a grudge, like he always does, because TikTok users foiled his Tulsa campaign rally.
TikTok collects less user data than Facebook, Twitter and Instagram does. The US TikTok data is also stored in the US and Singapore. It doesn't even go to China.
Fiddlers
It's time for more countries to stand up to China and change the way we do business with them.
zatoizugoodo
China is the plague in every sense of the word. Itʻs going to be tough, but Iʻm going to do my part and try not to buy anything made in China. China isnʻt welcome in my home.
Monty
Currently nobody wants anything from China!
Including travelers and business people.
Stuart123
Err.... Tik Tok says it reserves the right to share information with the Chinese authorities and it's app is banned in China? Why? Same as Huawei getting banned across the world. Controlled by the Chinese government....
divinda
Better look around and check your home inventory. Things like your TV, stereo, appliances, and clothes... most likely some if not all are made in China.
And in particular, the device you are reading this article and commenting with if it isn't completely made there, then the components in it almost certainly are.
Good luck!
Cosmos1
Why go to A 100 yen shop & pay consumer tax when you can shop online from China for the same products, get free drop shipping to your door at 50% less. ... China is welcome in my home
Strangerland
Well, just because it's not stored in China does not mean it does not go to China. The CCP has no objection to extending their influence into other countries - such as doing facetime with overseas dissidence, calling from their relatives devices, with the CCP sitting beside the relative.
To be fair, the US also exerts its influence in other countries (extrajudicial black sites anyone?), and if you use American social networking, your data is going to the US government. So for those of us not in China or the US, what does it really matter which we use?
Strangerland
I agree, and not just China.
drlucifer
China threatening Japan, Japan threatening SK. Just like bullies in a school.
Cosmos1
Don't mess with the Chinese , they could easily put a lot Japanese people out of work
Karthikmg
Japan was hesitating in banning travelers from China during this covid and is paying the price now. There is nothing to think about this...Just ban TikTok and China !
Fuzzy
Written on your Chinese made smartphone...
Paul
I am going to be so happy when I go to a shop to buy something and it will not say "Made in China". Threatening Japan with ""large impact" on bilateral relations", what are they going to do? Stop exporting their crap products here. Or the fruit and veg which has been laced with harmful chemicals? No thank you! Chinese come to Japan to buy baby food because they are afraid to give their children Chinese made one!
kwatt
It sounds like the communist government made the Tik Tok and wants to control Tik Tok all over the world.
Cosmos1
@Paul... did you know that Ireland exports Powdered Milk to Japan and sold in China as "Packaged In Japan and it is a big seller in China ... Next time you are shopping for Nappies & Baby food .. read the label ...
Kobe White Bar Owner
@BlackFlagCitizenToday 06:46 am JST
That's rich coming from a country that continues to block usage of apps and websites from other countries in China.
yup, do as I say not as I do. China needs to be taken down a few pegs It’s getting too big for its boots. just hope it can be done peacefully.
Myop
Hats off to India who started the banning spree
Michael Machida
This makes me think that America is correct to ban the app. Seems the Japanese Government is behind the App.
Michael Machida
I mean, the Chinese Government is behind the APP. Where are the censors when you need them?!
ulysses
Banning TikTok should be easy, there’s not much impact on businesses.
WeChat on the other hand, with thousands of businesses using WeChat pay, will be difficult.
bass4funk
Wow, so China wants to threaten Japan, ban our product or else! Or else what? China has some serious bullying brass ones. Seems like the Chinese are starting to get nervous that this is a trend that could continue and devastate the country financially on many levels were more countries to ban the app. Maybe every country should and China might finally get the message they can’t continue to bully the world.
Cosmos1
I think a lot of you here don't understand that millions of hard working mainland Chinese are not CCP party members.
thepersoniamnow
This is almost hilariously ironic and so full of nonsense, that at other times it would probably be headline news.
The worlds biggest censorer wants other nations to not censor it at all??
And an app has serious implications for international relations?
Cmon, how lame!
And the world should stand up and not let communist dictatorships do whatever they want using threats.
quercetum
What’s happening is the US is lowering its standards to that of China unless evidence of is provided. China is insecure. The US is beginning to look insecure
National security issues is a trump card that China uses to preserve its political culture of authoritarianism and to block democratic principles from infiltrating the populace. The US uses this card to protect its business and technology.
Fighto!
I really hope the Abe Cabinet bans this incredibly dangerous tik-tok scam. It is just like using a Huawei device: all the the users will be hacked and stolen by Communist China, and used to scam money, get information and blackmail the users.
Communist China is quickly finding they have no friends, except deplorable nations like North Korea and a few banana republics in Africa. They are being isolated and hopefully citizens will eventually rise up against police, public servants and the Communist party and tear the country apart within 5 years.
JCosplay
You said it, @BlackFlagCitizen . It’s like they say, “don’t throw stones if you live in a glass house.“
OssanAmerica
Yes and that needs to stop. On a national, corporate and individual consumer level. Don't cite how things have been till now as a reason to reject change.
OssanAmerica
But they are all under the control of the CCP and the fruits of their hard work have been channeled into creating the world's most powerful dictatorship in history.
saitamaliving
TikTok is successful. Anything that could compete not in sight. But not controlled by the US - must be bad. It's ridiculous to blame information theft when other huge western companies and apps do this since day one in a much wider area. What information could you retrieve via mainly anonymous TikTok? Yeah, Trump was angry as hell and totally flipped after he found out TikTok ruined Tulsa for him, but there's no need for Japan to follow any more ridiculous unproven crap coming from the current US government.
itsonlyrocknroll
The Government of China see fit to threaten and intimidate the Government of Japan simply because a number of LDP politicians question and wish reviewed the methodology of how TikTok user data is collected and stored.
My concern is fundamentally TikTok moderation policy and evidence of state censorship, interference to remove posts that criticize the Government of China appalling record on human rights
theFu
I think the number of over 1B. You'd think they could throw the CCP out of power, install a govt that doesn't harm their own people and lets the people decide locally who should represent them. Right?
Why do all the "hard working mainland Chinese" allow these things? Because the CCP controls all media and who can sit to be elected. Up until recently, their economy has been doing well, so they are taking home more money and don't see a slowdown coming.
In short, they know the rest of the world is unhappy, but don't understand why. They don't understand why Hong Kong is so unhappy and think Taiwan is still part of China (hint: it isn't). The only reason Taiwan hasn't declared independence is fear. But the CCP is used to ruling by fear and intimidation.
When was the last time we heard from Wei Wei? Can he travel? Are his family free to say what they like ... on twitter and other social networks?
Nope.
Until all outside apps are allowed into China, all Chinese apps should be blocked. I run a number of internet servers. I see thousands of attack daily from Chinese subnets. Those are all the University students just seeing what they can get away with. That needs to stop. China should hand over any one known to be performing espionage to the countries targeted. If a US company was performing espionage against a Chinese company, then that company should be held accountable too. Until recently, there was no downside for trying to get away with stuff. I've been blocking vast numbers of Russian and Chinese subnets from any access to my servers. Stopped accepting any .cn email years ago.
TikTok is nothing I really care about other than anyone in sensitive jobs shouldn't have it loaded on any of their devices. I'd have even less of an issue if videos that are anti-TikTok and anti-Xi and anti-China were allowed to stay up on TikTok. Alas, those videos get removed quickly and accounts are banned.
GW
I am LIKING this a LOT!! I have harped about the Chinese MONSTER govt for a few decades now, seems like the world MIGHT have started growing a pair & confront China on some of its CRAP!!
I hope the momentum continues, we need to start to shut down ops in China & dis-engage.
Note, I am NOT against the Chinese people, they are pawns, brain washed & have NO FREEDOM at all
rgcivilian1
"China has warned Japan that a ban on Beijing-based ByteDance's short-video app TikTok would have a"large impact" on bilateral relations"
Perhaps if China CCP would have listened to their people instead of doing what THEY think is best, it wouldn't be in this situation. It was not Japan, SK, Vietnam, Taiwan (yes I consider it independent of China and it would be this way according to global vote except China (CCP), Thailand, Philippines and the rest of Asia who wer the aggressors in both land and water grabs, using fake fishing vessels, research boats to expand military operations in the region, not leave out currency manipulation etc. because of the select few and their own private agendas for world domination and greed. No their government not the people made this problem and have isolated themselves not Japan's nor any other country's fault. The country's have banded together and realized that business was just fine the way it was before. A Japan as a REAL #2 country is best for Asia and it was until China was given a chance. Sorry but not buying "made in China" besides it only lasts for a day or 2 uses only anyway. I'm not in the business of selling junk to my customers, nor are they in the business of wasting money on junk either.
Dango bong
why doesn't China sound this tough to America? lol
Wesley
Tik Tok: Our app is completely independent of the chinese government!
Chinese government: If you ban the app we'll make you regret it!
Tik Tok: See? Totally independent! No connection at all!
Slickdrifter
Your data data is being mined, and the company doesn't have to adhere to Japanese privacy laws.
Fact!
You might be wondering what exactly is the problem with TikTok?
Unlike Facebook and Instagram, you're free to watch TikTok videos without registering, which means no data collection. However, if you want to create a video and share it, or comment on someone's video, then you must fork over your personal information, starting with age, phone number and e-mail address. TikTok freely admits in the privacy policy on its website – it collects information shared from third-party social network providers, and technical (your location) and behavioral information (what videos you think are funny, how often you watch) "about your use of the Platform. We also collect information contained in the messages you send through our Platform and information from your phone book.
Pretty bad. A Chinese tool to collect data to putting them closer to having power over people.
Wesley
Guy Who Reverse-Engineered TikTok Reveals The Scary Things He Learned, Advises People To Stay Away From It:
https://www.boredpanda.com/tik-tok-reverse-engineered-data-information-collecting/?utm_source=qwant&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=organic
TikTok Reverse Engineered: What Was Discovered Will Make You Delete It ASAP
https://hothardware.com/news/tiktok-reverse-engineered-beware-privacy
Quote:
*Some variants of the app had GPS pinging enabled at the time, roughly once every 30 seconds - this is enabled by default if you ever location-tag a post IIRC*
*They set up a local proxy server on your device for "transcoding media", but that can be abused very easily as it has zero authentication**
Still think the ccp communist DICTATORSHIP isn't monitoring the millions of young American "influencers" for political manipulation and to monitor government employees as well as how much money you have in your bank ?
kwatt
It seems to me most world people hardly believe this.
Majid Pers
People, countries have to ban any chinese product. First chinese virus, then chinese weird seeds.
Chinese communist government is enemy of freedom and democracy. they steal your data and want to spy on everyone
kwatt
It seems Japanese government would not recommend Tik Tok but for ordinary people, their choice to use it or not.
Sh1mon M4sada
LOL, affects bilateral relations...
China foisted the plague on the world, in the process destroyed Japan's tourism industry.
China attacked Japanese businesses, stole IPs, send rocket man on missions to destabilized Japan with barrages of rockets and nuke tests.
China has a permanent fleet of boats stealung Japanese squids, more boats and planes provoking Japan in the Senkakus.
How much worse can bilateral relations get?
Desert Tortoise
"TikTok collects less user data than Facebook, Twitter and Instagram does. The US TikTok data is also stored in the US and Singapore. It doesn't even go to China"
The MSS still has access. In real life everything that crosses a Chinese app or cell phone network goes through the MSS and is stored there.
Desert Tortoise
"TikTok is successful. Anything that could compete not in sight."
Not true. Mitron and Roposo are nearly identical. There are also Chingari and IGTV.
voiceofokinawa
What's so big a deal about TikTok? Isn't TikTok like Google's YouTube or a social networking service Facebook, having nothing to do with the military industry? So what's the Abe government's reason to ban it?
Hope Abe isn't simply acting on the order of Trump.
itsonlyrocknroll
It is important to read thoroughly TikTok privacy policy especially if considering business product advertising…..
TikTok for Business - Privacy and Cookie Policy.
https://ads.tiktok.com/i18n/official/policy/privacy
“your IP address, device information including, but not limited to, identifier, name, and type of operating system, information obtained from Cookies and other tracking technologies, time zone, and locale setting, and server logs (which can include information like access dates and times).
The rub, is how long TikTok will store this data, and more importantly make use of that information, a rather opaque blurt note, “our contractual obligations and rights in relation to the information involved.”
On a business opting to cancel, TikTok, will still store your data, in “an aggregated and anonymized format.” Meaningless, open to interpretation.
Also be fully aware all Chinese technology companies are quote: required by law to provide the information they obtain, or information stored on their networks to Chinese authorities if requested
gogogo
Blocking apps? Isn't that what China does? Guess the US and possibly Japan wants to control everything
ulysses
This is the best time to take on China, travel is at a standstill, recession everywhere.
If you target Chinese companies ability to do business worldwide, their tourists and students going abroad, there is bound to be civil unrest in China.
Abe tried to suck up to Xi few years ago and was humiliated, Time for a payback!!!
KnowBetter
Next will be Zoom. Stay clear of them. They answer to the CCP.
Freshmeat
I’m fed up with half baked news citing “unnamed sources”. Show the name of the person who says it or it’s made up convenient fake news.
Which Chinese official threaten Japan? Did TBS verify with the Chinese Embassy?
Which Japanese government sources? Japan foreign affairs somehow avoided comment?
tomodachi3
Chinese people are good but as a country, China is evil; boasts they are worlds manufacturing center. Why? China Stealing jobs of other nations trying to develop, prosper. China flooding whole world markets with ultra-cheap, extreme-low priced goods. Never buy Chinese goods and discourage others from buying Chinese products
xin xin
TikTok, like zoom, is a strategic communist Chinese company that aims at the throat or the jugular of Western society. Other countries are banning it and the Confucius Institute, but Japan is not moving yet. Abe is too weak!
ozellis
It is kind of ridiculous, right?
China bans popular apps from the USA from before time. Google..OUT. Facebook...OUT.
China (not the actual company) notifies the global community that they are miffed that the USA has banned TiKToK.
Truly ridiculous.
ozellis
It is my belief that J-folks are luving the tiktok and are actually quite malleable if got to in their formative years.
It is crazy but the potential for brainwashing is there.
Do not under-estimate our Asian friends.
Peter Neil
There's an old saying that you become what you hate. Banning things because China does it only makes you the same. All governments vacuum up your data every day. The US invented it for heaven's sake, so you can't be holier than thou.
TikTok gets your geolocation if you allow the app to do it, like all apps.
TikTok gets your browsing information, just like Google, Facebook, Twitter and sells it to those who want to push ads and direct you to things you'll buy based on your habits.
WeChat is the tool all companies use to do business in China - buying and selling.
Desert Tortoise
"Better look around and check your home inventory. Things like your TV, stereo, appliances, and clothes... most likely some if not all are made in China."
If you shop carefully there is almost noting made that you cannot buy from somewhere other than China. Most people have loads of Chinese products in their homes and businesses because they are generally the cheapest items on the shelf. But if you shop carefully and are willing to spend a little bit more, there are non-Chinese made substitutes for almost every good imaginable, including cell phones and laptops.
Desert Tortoise
" All governments vacuum up your data every day."
Governments don't even come close to collecting and using as much personal information as private businesses do. That information fetches a high price on the market and as such is highly sought by tech firms of their users so they can use it in house or sell it. The amount of information governments collect is a paltry fraction of what businesses collect. People worry about the wrong things.
moonwatcher
you ant tiktoks are hilarious. you're local grocery member discount cards collect as much as this thing.
theFu
Not registering doesn't mean data isn't be collected. Your computer, browser, smartphone, tablets are all fairly unique. A tool from the EFF will provide a uniqueness estimate that isn't tied to a location. https://panopticlick.eff.org/ Adding in some 100km area location data (available just by IP address) and those devices are probably unique. Don't forget that ISPs and google and FB and twitter (and all the other social apps from every company) each add a traceable supercookie to their connections.
Every "Like" button you see on any webpage - tracking.
Every "Gravatar avatar" you see on any webpage - tracking.
Every cellular device has a number of unique IDs tied to the hardware that every app can request - tracking.
Just because people don't understand these things, that doesn't mean it isn't happening.
There's a big difference between US companies and Chinese companies. We know that Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and many others have refused to provide the US govt data when they were searching widely. Those companies sue the USGovt and often win. I can post reputable links for each and for smaller companies which refused to provide data to the FBI - and were successful in court.
When has any Chinese company refused to provide the CCP-Govt data, sued, and won? Show just 1 example. Please. Examples. Even one?
Peter Neil
Japan and China relations aren't that great anyway.
You know what? I just don't care anymore.
Join the "I don't care" movement and free yourself from the noise.
Desert Tortoise
"you ant tiktoks are hilarious. you're local grocery member discount cards collect as much as this thing."
Kroger or Albertsons are not bound by law to grant access to their data to the Chinese government and they are there is no exposure to pressure or censorship from the Chinese government by doing business with Kroger or Albertsons, or any other big US chain. That is not the case with TikTok, WeChat or any other Chinese owned / controlled platform.
Desert Tortoise
"There's a big difference between US companies and Chinese companies. We know that Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and many others have refused to provide the US govt data when they were searching widely. Those companies sue the USGovt and often win. I can post reputable links for each and for smaller companies which refused to provide data to the FBI - and were successful in court."
The USG isn't being very smart. Facebook et-al collect that data because it has a great deal of value. They willingly sell it to those willing to pay the price. The USG should simply become a regular customer of theirs and buy it all, all the time. Facebook et-al make a lot of noise refusing USG and other law enforcement requests for information and leverage these occasions to burnish their image that they are "protecting" your data when they turn around and sell the exact same data to other commercial users and make a lot of money doing so. It's their primary source of income actually.
voiceofokinawa
xinxin,
If TikTok is like the Confucius Institute that helps teach Chinese language and culture, I still can't understand why it must be banned in so grand a scale and high profile a fashion.
Every country operates a cultural information center that teaches its culture and language to people in foreign countries, doesn't it? Germany has Goethe Institute, France Alliance Francaise, Spain Cervantes Cultural Center, UK British Counselor. In pre-1972 Okinawa, there were many Ryukyuan-American cultural centers throughout the region. Miyako Ryukyuan-American Cultural Center was my favorite place where I used to spend hours after school.
So isn’t all this fuss about TikTok an overreaction on the part of Trump and Abe?
oldman_13
That's interesting. For the life of me I cannot recall a single instance where the government of Japan or its people have "threatened" South Korea and its citizens. Quite the contrary, it's the South Koreans that have incessantly threatened all things Japan with childish quibbles. Threaten to boycott Japanese products. Threaten to take money away from corporations. Threaten this, complain about that. Japan by comparison, has only been reacting to these childish threats.
pOcketMonster
If Kim Jong-un released a video sharing app, will you install it on your devices and allow it to access "some" of your private information? Off course not, why trust bytedance? ("a company that has an internal committee of the Chinese Communist Party as well as strategic partnership with Chinese Communist Party supported ventures" quoted from wikipedia)
There are hundreds if not thousands of people spying for the CCP, the americans catch some of them, the japanese, oh well not doing a good job, but being a spy or operating a network of them is not easy, but what if they could spy on the entire world without all that hassle? The answer is Tik Tok and some others that weren't busted yet.
When they started advertising TikTok on the japanese media, the first thing i thought was that Google or some big company was behind it because they were spending like 100 million or more of USD / month to air commercials on most of the big tv channels in Japan, it was really massive, more than softbank, samsung, google and apple commercials combined, off course it is going to be a big app, imagine how much money they spend internationally at that massive marketing scale, not impressed if the CCP was behind it
And for the ones that don't know what a malware is, it steals data, voice, video without you even knowing, don't think the app will only get the data that you allowed it to access, if it find a loophole it will get everything it can grab
theFu
Facebook sells anonymized data, not specific, individual data, for private customers. All the social network companies have law enforcement portals where requests for data are made for individuals using specific limitations. For example, by username or device ID or within a small specific area. Large area "geo-fence" govt requests have been rejected and US courts agree. What about Chinese courts?
Data captured by loyalty cards may not be tied to any specific user. At my security group, we exchange these cards randomly every month to cause havoc with the collected data. We also swap a specific model of burner phones and SIMs.
Banning and Chinese app is just the same as China banning google, twitter, FB, and any other tools from outside Chinese control. Just last week, China's firewall started blocking all TLS v3 traffic. Earlier versions are fine, because there are ways to decrypt that traffic.
BTW, over 50% of all VPNs can be traced back to Chinese owners. There are some who register companies in BVI or Panama or the Seychelles, but those are all shell companies. The actual owners are Chinese. If you use a vpn, be certain to trace the ownership beyond the 1st level.
Strangerland
Gotta give Trump credit, he's got China nervous about this. The elephant in the room has been China stealing data, and Trump exposed it. I hope Japan and other countries follow suit.
theFu
Only with a valid search warrant, signed by a judge where probable cause has been displayed. There are multiple cases where the large social media guys have won when the USGovt asked for an unreasonable amount of data without probable cause. The govt doesn't have direct access to the data. When the NSA was caught trying to do that on google's internal network, google started encrypting all the data going between their own systems using PKI. Only the systems supposed to have access to the data get it that way. There is a paper from about 10 yrs ago about this.
As for the NSA seeing data, they won't be bothered with things that most humans do. If you aren't supporting child pornography or terrorist or Iran or part of the CCP directly, you aren't interesting. Just be certain to use TLS v1.3, not the earlier versions, if you care about that transmitted data being private. If you really care about privacy, there are better techniques, but those aren't friendly enough for average users.
Data that the USGovt captures is not provided to US companies for commercial exploits or espionage. It gets filed into a govt-only data center in Utah, for reference only by the NSA, not the FBI, CIA, or other agencies directly. They have to ask the NSA to search for the data and provide it. The NSA tends to be full of PhD types.
Trump's handling of China has been like a crazy person, but he is hitting on the important stuff by luck. Hopefully, the next Prez will continue down the same road and continue to reduce trade of all types with China until China learns to play nice with others. The US needs to re-learn playing nice with others whenever possible, too.
Strangerland
That's what it's supposed to be. Snowden exposed that it's a LOT more than that. I don't believe the US is nearly as bad as China, but I think that it's prudent to act on the internet as if this is true, since it's not entirely wrong: