On Tuesday, January 5, President Trump once again takes action against China, furthering the bitterness with Beijing, right before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Under the order, Alipay, QQ wallet, and WeChat pay, along with three other payment apps are prohibited to process transactions in 45 days. Claiming that Chinese software is a threat to national security, the order reveals "By accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information,". The order also claims that the continuation of usage of these apps will violate the foreign policy and the economy of the United States
This is not the first time President Trump had shown hostility towards Chinese companies. In November 2020, an executive order was passed "banning U.S. investment in alleged Chinese military companies including China's top chipmaker SMIC and oil giant CNOOC. Last month, the Commerce Department added dozens of Chinese companies, including Chinese drone manufacturer SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd, to a trade blacklist."
Despite the countdown before Inauguration Day on January 20, Trump continues to assert an aggressive approach with China as he had the past 4 years, continuing to worsen previous tensions accumulated from the disputes concerning the coronavirus outbreak and the Chinese special administrative district of Hong Kong. In the article, it mentioned that Biden could essentially revoke Trump's orders against China when he is in office, but so far, Biden has not commented on Trump's new executive order.
Questions:
Do you agree that banning apps like WeChat Pay and Alipay are beneficial for the security of American users? If so, should other apps such as Tik Tok or WeChat be banned as well? Why or why not?
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1 comment:
It is very concerning that there is a large amount of censorship through this order. I understand that there may be security issues, but that is taking away the citizen's choice of using the apps or not. Also, Trump setting up the Biden administration for unstable relations with China. I don't think that this would be ideal because we rely on trade with them.
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