Relations between the US and China have cooled, but at least the two countries are having a dialogue, says Mikael Mattlin of the Foreign Policy Institute.
China Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned the United States on Friday about the deterioration of relations between the two countries. According to Wang, the factors that negatively affect the relations between the countries have increased and grown.
Relations between China and the United States have long been cold, but over the past year and a half, the two countries have tried to stabilize their relations.
– Now, however, we talk, even though we talk loudly, but we still talk. Communication channels are open and quite active, says the Deputy Director of the Institute for Foreign Policy Mikael Mattlin.
Wang’s warnings were heard by the US Secretary of State by Anthony Blinken in connection with the visit to China. On Friday, Blinken also had time to meet the president of China Xi Jinpingwhich was considered a good sign in terms of the relations between the countries.
However, there are no great hopes for a warming of China-US relations. New York Times described the meeting as saying that both countries are trying to save what can be saved.
The Tiktok ban has no particular effect on the relations between the countries
Just before Blinken’s visit to the United States, a law was passed that forces the Chinese technology company Bytedance to sell the popular video app Tiktok. If no trades have been made after 270 days, the application will be banned in the United States.
The US administration believes that China is able to collect information about Americans and their preferences through Tiktok. In addition, the application is seen as a possible Chinese propaganda channel.
Mattlin of the Foreign Policy Institute does not believe that the United States’ Tiktok decision will have a particular impact on relations between the two countries.
– It is one thing among many others. Currently, this list of various contentious issues between the United States and China is long, and this in itself probably won’t change it dramatically, says Mattlin.
– In Beijing, they probably don’t like this movement either, he states.
American values under threat
Instead of relations between the great powers, the Tiktok decision may have more of an impact in the United States internally, Mattlin points out. He highlights the market economy and freedom of speech. The new law can be seen as a direct threat to these values.
– The strategic competition with China is currently considered so important in the United States that many of the principles and norms that we consider important are being scrapped under its pretext, says Mattlin.
He points out that there is an extraordinary consensus between Republicans and Democrats regarding China.
– Actually, we are mainly competing now as to which party will propose even stricter measures citing this security.
The forced sale of Tiktok is therefore, in addition to superpower politics, strongly intertwined with US domestic politics. Mattlin thinks that Tiktok may become an issue in the US presidential election.
President Joe Biden likely challenger Republican Donald Trump tried to ban Tiktok by presidential decree in his own term. This regulation was struck down as unconstitutional. Since then, Trump has turned into an opponent of the Tiktok ban.
A long legal battle is ahead
Bytedance now has nine months to sell Tiktok. If necessary, Biden can grant three months of additional time.
Bytedance, the technology company that owns Tiktok, has already announced that it will take the matter to court. China has also previously made it clear that it does not intend to give permission to sell the technology behind Tiktok.
– You can be sure that we are not going anywhere, CEO of Tiktok Shou Zi Chew said in his videowith which he declared himself a defender of the freedom of speech of the 170 million American Tiktok users.
The legal process means that a solution to Tiktok’s fate in the United States is unlikely to be found this year or even next year. American news website NBC according to which the ban could enter into force in 2026 at the earliest.
If Tiktok loses in court, the app may well disappear from the US. News agency Reuters According to Bytedance, Tiktok’s withdrawal from the United States is a more preferable option than selling the app to an American buyer.
– Now that the law has passed, it is likely that the situation will change one way or another, Mattlin says.
See Tiktok’s addictive algorithm documentary on Areena.