Beijing Blasts US Over Ban on Chinese Payment Apps, Says Move Hurts Market Order

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump again escalated the US-China trade war, signing an executive order banning the use of eight major Chinese payment apps, including Alipay, the world’s largest online payment platform, which is used by over one billion users.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has lashed out at the Trump administration over what it says is an app blacklist that runs contrary to fair competition and damages a normal market order.

The Ministry of Commerce statement echoes earlier remarks by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, who slammed the app ban as “bullying” and accused the Trump administration of “stretching the concept of national security.”

The Chinese reaction follows President Trump’s signing of a new executive order Tuesday banning the use of and financial transactions involving eight popular Chinese apps, including Alipay, CamScanner, WPS Office, VMate, Tencent QQ, WeChat Pay and QQ Wallet.

The order accuses China’s Communist Party of working feverishly to “steal or otherwise obtain United States persons’ data,” including “sensitive personally identifiable information,” to “advance China’s economic and national security agenda.”

The executive order is expected to take effect 45 days from Tuesday, weeks after Joe Biden is expected to take office. Biden’s China policy remains to be seen, with some observers expecting him to take a hard line on Beijing, while others have pointed to China’s praise for his recent pick of Antony Blinken for Secretary of State as a “consummate diplomat” with a “wealth of foreign policy experience.”

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Sourse: sputniknews.com

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