TIKTOK Really Is Spying On You For China…
The relentless pressure on TikTok ramped up further this week, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo again claiming user data is sent to to China. “It’s not possible to have your personal information flow across a Chinese server,” he warned during a British media interview, suggesting that data would “end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party,” which he characterized as an “evil empire.” TikTok is firmly in the sights of the Trump administration, and they’re not letting up.
But now, as TikTok continues to deny U.S. accusations of data mishandling, of it bowing to pressure from Beijing, a new report from the cyber experts at ProtonMail has called those denials into question. “Beware,” it warns, “the social media giant not only collects troves of personal data on you, but also cooperates with the CCP, extending China’s surveillance and censorship reach beyond its borders.”
TikTok’s world is now dominated by speculation as to whether the U.S. will find some way to ban the app, cutting access to tens of millions of American users and calling a halt to TikTok’s soaraway growth. The week had started with confirmation of a ban on federal employees installing the app on government-issued devices, seen by many as a precursor to some form of wider action by the Trump administration. We also now know how such a ban would operate—TikTok would be added to a Commerce Department entity list, in the same way Huawei has been sanctioned.
Beijing’s Move to Buy Arctic Gold Mine Draws Fire in Canada
TORONTO—The purchase of a gold mine in the Canadian Arctic by a state-run Chinese company is triggering alarms in Canada over China’s expanding presence in a region that is growing in strategic importance for its shipping lanes and resources.
Opposition parties and former government officials have called on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to block Shandong Gold Mining Co., one of China’s largest gold miners, from buying Toronto-based TMAC Resources Inc., whose operation is almost 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet has final say over the deal, but members of the Liberal Party government have stayed silent about it while it remains under review.
Opponents say Canada should block the deal to slow China’s growing control over strategic minerals. They also want to stop China from buying more assets in the Arctic. U.S. military and foreign-policy officials have warned that China could assert itself in the sensitive region like it has in the South China Sea.