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President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including Ant Group Alipay, the White House said, escalating tensions with Beijing just over two weeks before the president-elect takes office Joe Biden.
The move, first reported by Reuters, is aimed at reducing the threat Chinese software applications pose to Americans, who have large user bases and have access to sensitive data, a senior official told Reuters. administration.
The order argues that the United States must take “aggressive action” against Chinese software application developers to protect national security.
It directs the commerce department to define which transactions will be prohibited under the directive within 45 days and also targets Tencent’s QQ wallet and WeChat Pay. The command also names CamScanner, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate and WPS Office.
A US spokeswoman for Tencent and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.
“By accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast expanses of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information,” declares the decree.
Such data collection “would allow China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors and build personal information records,” the document added.
The order aims to solidify Trump’s legacy against China ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of Biden, a Democrat, who has not said much about how he plans to deal with specific technological threats from China.
Biden could, however, revoke the order on the first day of his presidency, although his transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
The order will likely increase tensions between Washington and Beijing, which have been locked in a bitter dispute over the origins of the coronavirus and a Chinese crackdown on Hong Kong.
Despite the 45-day deadline set by the order, the Commerce Department plans to act before Jan.20 to identify prohibited transactions, another U.S. official told Reuters.
The directive reflects executive orders signed by Trump in August asking Commerce to block certain U.S. transactions with WeChat and the Chinese-owned TikTok video app.
Had those ordinances come into effect, they would have effectively banned the use of Chinese apps in the United States and banned Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc app stores from making them available for download to new users.
However, the restrictions were blocked by the courts mainly for reasons of free speech. The White House is confident that the new restrictions will stand up to judicial scrutiny because apps like Alipay would struggle to bring a First Amendment case to bear, a senior administration official told Reuters.
US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement that he supported “Trump’s commitment to protect the privacy and security of Americans against threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.”
Alipay, the Ant Group payments app, has been in Washington’s crosshairs for months.
Reuters reported in November that the US State Department submitted a proposal to add Ant Group to a commercial blacklist to deter US investors from participating in its lucrative initial public offering. But the Commerce Department, which oversees the blacklist, put the proposal aside after Alibaba Group Holding Inc chairman Michael Evans urged Ross to reject the offer.
Ant is the leading mobile payment company in China, offering lending, payments, insurance and asset management services through mobile apps. It is 33% owned by Alibaba and controlled by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, but is currently not available to US users.
Tuesday’s decision is the latest in a series of tough new measures for Chinese companies.
The White House unveiled an executive order in November banning U.S. investments in suspected Chinese military companies, including China’s leading chipmaker SMIC and oil giant CNOOC. Last month, the Commerce Department added dozens of Chinese companies, including Chinese drone maker SZ DJI Technology, to a commercial blacklist.
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