Beijing’s internet restrictions have already forced most American social media firms out of the Chinese market, narrowing the list of potential targets for a tit-for-tat response.
Driving TikTok – or its Chinese owner – out of the US could challenge that calibration. Officials in 2023 displayed their willingness to respond in kind to a US campaign to kneecap Beijing’s access to advanced semiconductors, for example, by launching a probe into American memory chipmaker Micron Technology.
Another consideration would be the optics, after foreign investment into China slumped to a 30-year low in 2023. Mr Xi travelled to San Francisco to woo American CEOs last November and rolled out the red carpet for executives in Beijing in 2024, as officials ramp up efforts to boost sentiment. Chinese agencies and government-backed firms ordered staff to stop bringing iPhones and other foreign devices to work in 2023, in an unprecedented prohibition that is likely to clip Apple’s sales in China. Tesla’s electric vehicles are already subject to restrictions in government compounds, due to concerns about data being collected by the cameras built into the cars.
While Mr Xi has a long-term objective for tech independence, alienating foreign firms in that sector would only slow China’s development, according to Associate Professor Li Mingjiang from Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “What China wants now is to reduce tech decoupling with the US,” he said. “Punishing a US tech company will not be helpful for this purpose.
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