Rapaciousness of Washington exposed by its looting of TikTok

An injunction issued by a federal judge late on Sunday that halted a ban ordered by the US administration on downloads of the short video sharing app TikTok, hours before it was to go into effect on Monday, gives the app's parent company ByteDance a little breathing space.

The temporary injunction issued by Washington District of Columbia Judge Carl Nichols has halted the administration's order that would have prevented TikTok being downloaded.

Yet despite the positive response of Los-Angeles-based TikTok to the reprieve－the company saying in a statement that it was "pleased" with the injunction as it gives it more time to defend its rights－the ruling, which serves to appease the anger of TikTok users in the US, is only temporary. The judge declined to annul other US Commerce Department restrictions set to take effect on Nov 12 banning technical and business arrangements that are necessary for the proper functioning of the app.

Nonetheless, the injunction would seem to have given more time for ByteDance and Oracle and Walmart to come to an agreement on their proposed arrangement for TikTok's operations. The talks had come to a virtual standstill because the planned deal that had been given the nod by the US administration would have been tantamount to transforming the proposed new entity TikTok Global into a US company.

Even many third parties have deemed this to be dirty and totally unacceptable.

That means the negotiating sides have another one and a half months to reach an agreement that passes muster not only with the US administration but also the Chinese government. It needs to approve any deal since it involves technologies that are on the list of those China has restricted for transfer.

There is a sense of déjà vu about the US administration's moves, not only because they recall the labor pains preceding the delivery of the phase one trade deal between the two countries, but also because of previous US administrations' attacks on foreign companies that threatened US tech preeminence.

Although the US administration labels TikTok as a threat to national security, it is the business success and technological advantage of the company that have prompted the administration to smash the company and let US companies grab whatever might be of value.

The US presents itself as the champion of fair competition and the market economy, yet the move against TikTok has once again shown that it is a ruthless predator on the success of others.

Like its waving of the banner of human rights, its standard bearing for fair competition is a sham. It seeks to portray itself as a good citizen in the community of nations, when the weakness of its ethical restraints means it is willing to cheat, coerce and compel to achieve its own ends.

The US administration's bid to make TikTok a prize of its plundering is not to be condoned, and it will undoubtedly incur proportional countermeasures from Beijing.