The United States wants “untrusted” Chinese apps removed from U.S. app stores, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday, calling out popular Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat.
He also called for companies to limit their apps from phones made by Huawei Technologies.
“With parent companies based in China, apps like TikTok, WeChat and others are significant threats to the personal data of American citizens,” not to mention tools for content censorship, Pompeo said at a news conference.
The State Department will also work to limit the ability of Chinese cloud service providers to collect, store and process American’s personal information and businesses’ intellectual property, including vaccine research, Pompeo said, part of a “clean network” initiative.
Chinese telecommunications companies and Chinese undersea internet cables also came under fire, with Pompeo calling for restrictions to prevent Beijing from compromising U.S. information and communications.
“We call on all freedom-loving nations and countries to join the clean network,” he told reporters.
Pompeo’s remarks represented an escalation in President Donald Trump’s push to clamp down on Chinese technology, which the White House says is a threat to national security.
President Trump is pushing for TikTok to be shut down or sold after because of its ownership by China’s ByteDance. He warned the video app must sell its U.S. business by Sept. 15 or be banned in the U.S.
Looking to head off the threatened ban, TikTok is in talks with Microsoft. It has denied it shares data with the Chinese government.
