The US ambassador to China said Beijing's stance on a potential TikTok ban in the US is "extremely ironic" given the ruling Communist Party's censorship of online platforms within the country's borders.
The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would force the hugely popular short-video app to part ways with its Chinese parent company or be banned nationwide, AFP reports.
China harshly criticised the approval, denouncing what it called Washington's "thuggish" mentality and accusing lawmakers of "unfairly suppressing foreign companies".
U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns delivered a rebuke, saying Beijing's stance was unjustified given that it has blocked many Western web platforms from operating in the country.
"I find it extremely ironic that government officials here in China ... are criticizing the United States for the debate we're having right now about TikTok," Burns said during an online seminar hosted by the East-West Center, a U.S.-based research organization.
"They don't even allow TikTok to be available to the 1.4 billion Chinese," he said in response to a question about U.S. public diplomacy options in China.
China's government tightly controls the dissemination of information online and purges social media content it deems politically sensitive.
Many Western platforms, including Google, Facebook and Instagram, cannot operate in the country.
TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, also runs a separate version of the app in China called Douyin.
China has hit back at Burns' comments, saying the U.S. stance on the app is "a real irony."
Asked about the ambassador's remarks at the seminar, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the U.S. is "making every effort to use national power to suppress TikTok."
"A country that prides itself on free speech and claims to be a free market economy is willing to use state power to crack down on specific companies," Wang said.
"That's the real irony."
Some Western governments have expressed concern about TikTok's growing popularity, arguing that the app's ownership makes it subservient to Beijing - a claim TikTok denies.
The bill, which has also been criticised by TikTok's creators and users, is expected to face a tougher challenge in the US Senate.
The White House has indicated that President Joe Biden will sign the bill if it reaches his desk. / BGNES
