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Minggu, 20 September 2020

China's ByteDance gets Trump nod to avoid TikTok shutdown - CNA

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday (Sep 19) he supported a deal in principle that would allow TikTok to continue to operate in the United States, even as it appeared to conflict with his earlier order for China's ByteDance to divest the video app.

ByteDance was racing to avoid a crackdown on TikTok after the US Commerce Department said on Friday it would block new downloads and updates to the app come Sunday. US officials had expressed concern that the personal data of as many as 100 million Americans that use the app were being passed on to China's Communist Party government.

Trump signed an executive order on Aug 14 giving ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok. The deal announced on Saturday, however, is structured as a partnership rather than a divestment.

TikTok will be owned by a new company called TikTok Global and will be headquartered in the United States, possibly in Texas, Trump said. Oracle Corp will take a 12.5 per cent stake in TikTok Global and store all its US user data on its cloud to comply with US national security requirements, the companies said.

Retail giant Walmart said it would take a 7.5 per cent stake in TikTok Global. The implied valuation for TikTok Global as a result of these investments could not be learned.

While Oracle and Walmart said that TikTok Global will be majority-owned by US investors, this is the case only if one takes into account ByteDance's investor base, according to a source familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the deal's structure. This is because ByteDance will own 80 per cent of TikTok Global, the source said.

READ: China's ByteDance seeks US$60b TikTok valuation in US deal: Report

Given that US investors currently own about 40 per cent of ByteDance, the White House will count that towards how much of TikTok Global is owned by US parties, the source added. As a result, Oracle, Walmart, and ByteDance's US investors will own, directly or indirectly, about 53 per cent of TikTok Global, a second source said.

Beijing-based ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Walmart and Oracle also did not offer more information on TikTok Global's ownership structure.

It was not immediately clear what spurred the White House to compromise on its push for an outright sale of TikTok. However, the deal comes with pledges that cater to Trump's 'America First' policy agenda. It also averts alienating TikTok's young users ahead of the Nov 3 US election.

ByteDance agreed to create 25,000 new US jobs at TikTok, up from a little over 1,000 now. Trump, who had previously called on companies such as Oracle and Walmart to pay the United States a "fee" to participate in the TikTok deal, said there would also be a US$5 billion US education fund as part of the deal.

"I said, you know, do me a favour, could you put up US$5 billion into a fund for education so we can educate people as to the real history of our country, not the fake history," Trump told a rally of supporters in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Saturday.

Oracle and Walmart described the agreement differently. They said that together with ByteDance top investors General Atlantic, Sequoia and Coatue they would create an educational initiative to deliver an artificial-intelligence driven online video curriculum for children, from basic reading and math to science, history and computer engineering.

US President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for campaign travel to Minnesota from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, on Sep 18, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

The companies did not say how much they would spend on the education initiative. However, they said TikTok Global would pay more than US$5 billion in new taxes to the US Treasury.

While ByteDance will get to keep TikTok's source code under the deal, Oracle will get to inspect it. Oracle CEO Safra Catz said her company was "100 per cent confident in our ability to deliver a highly secure environment to TikTok and ensure data privacy to TikTok's American users, and users throughout the world".

Catz served on Trump's transition team in 2016, while Oracle's co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison is one of the few top technology executives to openly support the US president.

READ: US judge halts Commerce Department order to remove WeChat from app stores

ByteDance also had to give up some of its control of TikTok. Reuters reported on Thursday that TikTok Global would have a majority of American directors, a US chief executive and a security expert on the board. Walmart said on Saturday its CEO Doug McMillon would serve as one of the five board members of TikTok Global.

It is possible that ByteDance's ownership of TikTok will be reduced further next year. Reuters was first to report on Thursday that ByteDance is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of TikTok Global. The filing of the IPO would be on a US stock exchange and could come in about a year.

CFIUS APPROVAL

The Commerce Department said on Saturday it would delay by one week an order that had been set to take effect late Sunday that would have forced Alphabet Inc's Google and Apple Inc to stop offering TikTok for download, so the TikTok deal can be completed. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the US government panel overseeing the deal talks, has to approve the transaction.

Oracle beat out Microsoft Corp , which said last week that its offer to acquire TikTok's US business was rebuffed by ByteDance.

The Trump administration has stepped up its efforts to purge what it deems "untrusted" Chinese apps from US digital networks. An order to require app stores to stop downloads of Tencent Holding's WeChat is still set to take effect Sunday night.

TikTok interim chief executive Vanessa Pappa said in a video posted on Saturday that "Tiktok is here to stay."

China also has to approve the deal. "We'll see whether or not it all happens," Trump said.

The first Chinese reaction to the deal came from Global Times, which is published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party. Global Times editor Hu Xijin said "this scheme is still unfair, but it avoids the worst result that TikTok is shut down or sold to a US company completely".

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2020-09-20 19:56:28Z
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US judge blocks Commerce Department order to remove WeChat from app stores - The Straits Times

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - A US judge early Sunday (Sept 20) blocked the Commerce Department from requiring Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to remove Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat for downloads by late Sunday.

US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco said in an order that WeChat users who filed a lawsuit "have shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim, the balance of hardships tips in the plaintiffs' favour."

Her 22-page order added the prohibitions “burden substantially more speech than is necessary to serve the government’s significant interest in national security, especially given the lack of substitute channels for communication.”

On Friday, the Commerce Department had issued an order citing national security grounds to block the app from US app stores owned by Tencent Holdings and the Justice Department had urged Judge Beeler not to block the order.

Tencent and the Justice Department did not immediately comment.

Judge Beeler's preliminary injunction also blocked the Commerce Department order that would have barred other transactions with WeChat in the United States that could have degraded the site's usability for current US users or potentially made it unusable. The Commerce Department did not immediately comment.

WeChat has had an average of 19 million daily active users in the United States, analytics firms Apptopia said in early August. It is popular among Chinese students, Americans living in China and some Americans who have personal or business relationships in China.

The Justice Department said blocking the order would "frustrate and displace the president's determination of how best to address threats to national security."

Judge Beeler wrote “certainly the government’s overarching national-security interest is significant. But on this record – while the government has established that China’s activities raise significant national security concerns – it has put in scant little evidence that its effective ban of WeChat for all US users addresses those concerns.”

WeChat is an all-in-one mobile app that combines services similar to Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Venmo.

The app is an essential part of daily life for many in China and boasts more than 1 billion users.

The Justice Department also argued that WeChat users could switch to other apps or platforms.

The WeChat Users Alliance that had sued praised the ruling “as an important and hard-fought victory” for “millions of WeChat users in the US”.

Michael Bien, a lawyer for the users, said “the United States has never shut down a major platform for communications, not even during war times. There are serious First Amendment problems with the WeChat ban, which targets the Chinese American community.”

He added the order “trampled on their First Amendment guaranteed freedoms to speak, to worship, to read and react to the press, and to organise and associate for numerous purposes.”

Judge Beeler also noted “there are obvious alternatives to a complete ban, such as barring WeChat from government devices.

She added “The regulation – which eliminates a channel of communication without any apparent substitutes – burdens substantially more speech than is necessary to further the government’s significant interest.”

Separately, the Commerce Department late Saturday said it was delaying enforcement of another order issued Friday that would also have banned US app stores from offering TikTok starting late Sunday.

The one-week delay came after US President Donald Trump on Saturday blessed a deal with TikTok owner ByteDance and US companies Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc to create a new company to handle TikTok’s US operations.

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2020-09-20 13:50:42Z
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US judge halts Commerce Department order to remove WeChat from app stores - CNA

Business

A U.S. judge early Sunday blocked the Commerce Department from requiring Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to remove Tencent Holding's WeChat for downloads by late Sunday.

Illustration picture of WeChat app — The sign of the WeChat app is seen reflected on a mobile phone in this illustration picture taken September 19, 2020. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration

20 Sep 2020 09:20PM

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WASHINGTON: A U.S. judge early Sunday blocked the Commerce Department from requiring Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to remove Tencent Holding's WeChat for downloads by late Sunday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in California said in an order that WeChat users who filed a lawsuit "have shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim, the balance of hardships tips in the plaintiffs’ favor."

Beeler's preliminary injunction also blocked the Commerce order that would have barred other transactions with WeChat in the United States that could have degraded the site's usability for current U.S. users. The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately comment.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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2020-09-20 13:26:03Z
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Iran urges world to unite against US 'reckless actions' - CNA

TEHRAN: Iran on Sunday (Sep 20) called on the rest of the world to unite against the United States, after Washington unilaterally declared UN sanctions against the Islamic republic were back in force.

"We expect the international community and all the countries in the world to stand against these reckless actions by the regime in the White House and speak in one voice," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a news conference in Tehran.

Washington has said it will "impose consequences" on any country not complying with the sanctions, although the US is one of the only nations that believes they are in force.

"The whole world is saying nothing has changed," Khatibzadeh said, adding sanctions were in place only in the "imaginary world" of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

"This is much ado about nothing, and I believe these are the most bitter days and hours for the United States," he added.

Calling Washington "isolated" and "on the wrong side of history", Khatibzadeh said Tehran's message for it was to "return to the international community, to your commitments, stop rebelling and the world will accept you."

According to Pompeo, the UN sanctions were back in force from Sunday.

The move relies on the controversial "snapback" mechanism, which the US claims allows any of the partners to the 2015 nuclear agreement to reimpose UN sanctions if Tehran violates its obligations.

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2020-09-20 08:56:55Z
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US defies world to say Iran UN sanctions back in effect - CNA

WASHINGTON: The United States unilaterally proclaimed on Saturday (Sep 19) that UN sanctions against Iran are back in force and promised to punish those who violate them, in a move that risks increasing Washington's isolation but also international tensions.

"Today, the United States welcomes the return of virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

According to him, the measures were "back in effect" from 8pm Washington time.

READ: Iran urges world to unite against US 'reckless actions'

The government of US President Donald Trump also promised to "impose consequences" on any UN member state which does not comply with the sanctions, even though it is one of the only countries in the world which believes they are in force.

The threat is formidable: Those deemed to be in defiance by Washington will be denied access to the US financial system and markets.

"If UN member states fail to fulfill their obligations to implement these sanctions, the United States is prepared to use our domestic authorities to impose consequences for those failures and ensure that Iran does not reap the benefits of UN-prohibited activity," Pompeo stated.

He promised that measures would be announced in coming days against "violators."

'FALSE CLAIM'

With 45 days to go until the Nov 3 election, Trump could unveil those measures during his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

However Washington is almost alone on the issue: All the other great powers - China, Russia and also the US' own European allies - have challenged the claim.

READ: Iran's Zarif says world should oppose US sanctions or expect same

READ: Iran's friends should have defied US sanctions during COVID-19 pandemic: President Rouhani

"Any decision or action taken with a view to re-installing (the sanctions) would be incapable of legal effect," France, Britain and Germany said in a joint letter sent Friday to the Security Council and of which AFP has obtained a copy.

The Americans themselves realise the statement is a "false claim" Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif said Saturday.

How did the UN arrive at this spectacular stand-off between the leading superpower and the rest of the planet? To answer that, one has to go back at least one month.

In mid-August, Trump's administration suffered a resounding defeat at the UN Security Council when it tried to extend the embargo on conventional weapons being sent to Tehran, which was due to expire in October.

Pompeo made an unusually vehement attack on France, Britain and Germany, accusing them of "siding with Iran's ayatollahs", and on Aug 20 announced a controversial move known as the "snapback", which aimed to re-establish all sanctions against Tehran a month later.

The sanctions were lifted in 2015 when Iran signed on to an international agreement not to seek to build nuclear weapons.

But Trump said that the landmark accord, negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, was insufficient and withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018, then renewed and even strengthened Washington's bilateral sanctions.

LEGAL PIROUETTE

At the moment, the US is insisting it is still a participant in the agreement that it stormed out of, but only so that it can activate the "snapback" option.

Virtually every other member of the Security Council disputes Washington's ability to execute this legal pirouette, and the council has not taken the measure any further.

But this dialogue of the deaf has gone on unabated: The Trump administration acts as if the international sanctions are in place, while the rest of the international community continues to act as if nothing has changed.

Washington is hammering home that the arms embargo has been extended "indefinitely" and that many activities related to Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs are now subject to international sanctions.

But "I don't see anything happening", said one UN diplomat. "It would be just a statement. It's like pulling a trigger and no bullet coming out."

Another diplomat deplored the "unilateral" US act, saying that "Russia and China are sitting, happy, eating popcorn, watching" the "huge destabilising fallout" between Washington and its European partners.

But if the United States were to carry out the threat of secondary sanctions, tensions could continue to spiral.

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2020-09-20 08:46:00Z
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China's rich seek bodyguards schooled in digital dark arts - CNA

TIANJIN: At the Genghis Security Academy, which bills itself as China's only dedicated bodyguard school, students learn that the threats to the country's newly rich in the tech age are more likely to emerge from a hacker than a gunman.

Each day students in matching black business suits toil from dawn until midnight at the school in the eastern city of Tianjin, where digital defences are given equal pegging to the traditional close-protection skillset of combat, weapons training and high-speed driving.

Around a thousand graduate each year, hoping to land jobs as guards to China's burgeoning ranks of rich and famous, positions which can be worth up to US$70,000 - several times more than an annual office wage.

But the school says it can't meet demand as China's rapid growth mints millionaires - 4.4 million according to a Credit Suisse 2019 report, more than in the US.

The course fees are up to US$3,000 a student; and while they had to cancel training between February and June because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has not dampened demand.

Only the best make the cut, says founder Chen Yongqing, insisting his disciplinarian standards are stricter than in the army.

"I'm quick-tempered and very demanding," the army veteran from China's northern Inner Mongolia region told AFP.

"Only by being strict can we cultivate every good sword. If you don't forge it well, it will break itself."

About half of the students are ex-military, Chen says.

They train in rows in a large, shabby sports hall, holding blue plastic guns ahead of them with a steady stare - before practising hustling their clients safely into a black Audi with smashed windows.

Some clients only trust bodyguards whose Chinese zodiac sign matches theirs AFP/WANG ZHAO

Other sessions are held in a classroom or gym, where they box in matching red T-shirts.

Mobile phones are confiscated throughout, while meals are taken in silence in a large dining hall presided over by pictures of acclaimed graduates, who have protected everyone from China's second richest man Jack Ma to visiting French presidents.

"We have been defining the standard of Chinese bodyguards," instructor Ji Pengfei told AFP.

In one class, students in pairs work through a scenario protecting a "client" from an intruder.

"Danger!" shouts Ji, prompting the guard to quickly throw their "boss" behind them and pull out a gun in the same move.

Students in matching black business suits toil from dawn until midnight at the bodyguard school in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin AFP/WANG ZHAO

Those who fail to do it in two seconds are assigned 50 push-ups.

The guns at the Tianjin school are fake - China outlaws possession of firearms. For live firearms training, students are taken to Laos in Southeast Asia.

WIPING DATA, BLOCKING HACKS

But in a highly surveilled country with a low rate of street crime, the modern minder needs an up-to-date skillset, against state monitoring or professional hackers.

"Chinese bosses don't need you to fight," Chen tells his students of a client base which includes the country's biggest real estate and tech firms.

Repelling hacks on mobile phones, network security, spotting eavesdroppers and wiping data are all required tools in the bodyguard's armoury.

"What would you do if the boss wants to destroy a video file immediately?" Chen asks a class.

Around a thousand graduate each year from the Genghis Security Academy AFP/WANG ZHAO

Even so, old-school threats still exist in China - earlier this year billionaire He Xiangjian, founder of Midea and one of the country's richest men, was kidnapped at his home.

According to Chinese media, His son escaped by jumping into a river and was able to call the police, who said they arrested five suspects at the scene.

Student Zhu Peipei, a 33-year-old army veteran from northern Shanxi province, hopes becoming a bodyguard could offset his lack of professional skills or academic qualifications.

"And of course, it's cool," he added.

About half of the students are ex-military AFP/WANG ZHAO

But the alumni of the Genghis Academy also provide humdrum services, like accompanying children of the rich and famous to school - for a fee of 180,000 yuan (US$26,000) a year.

That in itself is far more than the base salary in private companies of around 53,000 yuan.

Students must also navigate the quirks of their wealthy clients, says trainer Ji.

Some only trust bodyguards whose Chinese zodiac sign matches theirs, he explains - while one, from a Fortune 500 company, only wanted to hire from his hometown.

Another demanded a prospective bodyguard tell him what books he liked to read - he was hired after saying he liked military novels.

The best can command as much as 500,000 yuan a year inside China, but some set their sights on a posting overseas, potentially working with foreign clients.

"I want to work in the Philippines or Myanmar," one student said, requesting anonymity.

"Then I can carry a gun ... it will be more challenging and I can earn more."

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2020-09-20 07:19:48Z
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Millions of US users to be hit by WeChat block - CNA

WASHINGTON: Washington's crackdown on WeChat will disrupt communications between millions of people in the United States and their friends, families and business partners in China.

But the app had not managed to reproduce in the US its success in China as the dominant smartphone-based payments platform.

The US Commerce Department announced partial bans on Friday (Sep 18) on WeChat as well as video app TikTok.

READ: Trump gives blessing to deal to allow TikTok to continue to operate in US

The order will slow down WeChat to make it unuseable in the United States for videochats with family and friends.

"They are slowing the speed to technically make it virtually impossible to use audio, video, or send images," said Wu Ziyi, a Chinese graduate student in political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

UNIVERSAL APP

In China, WeChat took the country toward cashless commerce in just a few years, and it is used by hundreds of millions for everyday payments.

It is a kind of universal app, a digital bank account and identification card, for ordering food or a car, sending gifts, managing medical issues, and interfacing government services.

Owned by technology giant TenCent, WeChat in the United States has around 19 million active daily users, said Adam Blacker of Apptopia, a mobile apps consultant.

"It's mostly used by Chinese visiting or working here or by Chinese-Americans staying in touch with their relatives," said William Reinsch of the Center for Strategic and international Studies in Washington.

That includes several hundred thousand Chinese students in the US, who use it for "at least 90 per cent" of their daily online conversations, according to Wu.

He said that it can be used to exchange small amounts of money.

But it cannot be connected to a US bank account or credit or debit card, and because it only works in Chinese yuan.

US businesses also use WeChat for communications with Chinese suppliers, and can possibly use it for payments, though other services -- like the Alipay function of TenCent rival Alibaba -- are better built to handle large sums and foreign exchange.

If US businesses do use its payments function, said Reinsch, "I haven't heard of anybody complaining that they might be stopped from doing that."

Now, under the Commerce Department order, WeChat cannot be used for transferring money inside the United States.

Reinsch said US businesses were mainly concerned that the long-flagged crackdown would apply to use of WeChat outside the United States, which would hamstring their China businesses.

That usage appears to still be allowed.

TOUGH COMPETITION IN US

WeChat did once try to break into the US payments market, but made few inroads due to resistance by banks and merchants, regulations that favor credit and debit cards over digital wallets, and stiff competition.

In 2018 the company declared its WeChat Pay app was poised to take off, especially in brand-name shops where Chinese tourists abound, hoping to leverage that for a broader expansion.

The gambling and tourism conglomerate Caesars Entertainment began taking WeChat payments at restaurants, shops and entertainment venues in Las Vegas, aiming to help Chinese tourists spend their money.

But with US-based rivals like Zelle, Venmo and Apple Pay contesting the market, WeChat barely registered, and Caesars appears to have given it up.

The company did not respond to a query on WeChat.

Wu said Chinese in the United States might still find ways to use the app, through VPN networks or by other means, but most are already moving to other chat apps for communications with families back home.

"My family is very traditional, so we will probably just go back to the phone call," he sighed.

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2020-09-20 05:58:18Z
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Minggu, 20 September 2020

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