The cynic in me sees this as a win for the CCP. Maybe this was to set an example for Chinese companies: refuse to play ball with the party and the Evil West that you idolize so much will break your toys.
The current administration has demonstrated how enormously corrupt they are, and we have seen a little bit of circumstantial evidence of "cooperation" between the CCP and the first family. But who knows just how deep that rabbit hole goes?
This is exactly what the general public in China are jesting ByteDance about right now, mocking it as an out-of-favor American lap dog. The CEO actually got labeled as traitor for his past liberal comments.
The current administration has demonstrated how enormously corrupt they are, and we have seen a little bit of circumstantial evidence of "cooperation" between the CCP and the first family. But who knows just how deep that rabbit hole goes?