Beijing will not approve Tik Tok-Oracle deal – Global Times

China’s highly influential media outlet, Global Times, carried an editorial-opinion piece on Tuesday, citing that the government is unlikely to approve the agreement between Tik Tok’s parent company ByteDance and Oracle, already approved by US President Donald Trump on Sunday.  

Key reasons

“Oracle will have the authority to check the source code of TikTok USA and updates. As the TikTok and Douyin should have the same source code, this means the US can get to know the operations of Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.“

“TikTok Global will control the business of TikTok around the world except China. It will block IP from the Chinese mainland to access it. This means the Americans can take control of the global business of TikTok and reject Chinese to access it.”

Market reaction

The above opinion piece is unlikely to bode well for the market sentiment, as it could once again hamper US-Sino diplomatic ties.

At the moment, the Asian equities post losses amid growing coronavirus risks on the global economy. S&P 500 futures also remain on the back foot while AUD/USD drops 0.12% to 0.7212, courtesy of the comments from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Deputy Governor Guy Debelle.

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