[favourable]

> First, this bill isn’t actually aiming to ban TikTok. It really wants to force ByteDance to sell TikTok to someone else who is not controlled by China

Is the US chinaphobic or something? Because they have a good relationship in terms of trade. I'm always reminded of the irony of 'Boycott China' T-Shirts being manufactured in China. As long as the US is the buyer, there's no beef.

[stale2002]

> Is the US chinaphobic or something?

Well, china makes many threats to invade our allies, like Taiwan. (Officially declared or not. We give them weapons)

China is quite literally on a list of military enemies.

Yes, it is reasonably to be fearful of countries that are likely going to go to war with your allies. Just like it is reasonable for the government of ukraine to be afraid of the invading russian army.

Our cold war relationship with china could change in the future. They are going to have to make a lot of changes first, such as swearing off invading our allied country taiwan.

But, until that happens, china is right now on the path to actual war with the US in around 5 years.

[woooooo]

Technically, the US official position on Taiwan is that they are not even independent, let alone an ally.

Of course it would be silly to sell them Aegis missile systems if we really believed that. But that's our official position.

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-05/us-upgrad...

> US Upgrades Taiwan Weapons Package With Newer Patriot Missiles

Not an ally though.

[woooooo]

Correct. Not even officially recognized as a country, it came out of the Nixon talks.

Yes, it's silly.

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

They can be both an ally and not officially recognized as a country due to complicated political and diplomatic reasons.

[woooooo]

Not without sprinkling the word "unofficially" in front of various nouns, including the key noun "ally".

[stonogo]

It is easier to demonize others than pass privacy laws and data protections, because the latter would also destroy the Silicon Valley behemoths who pay a lot of money to ensure it won't happen.

[rrsmtz]

It’s not about demonizing, it’s about bringing it under control. Silicon Valley behemoths cooperate with the US government in a way that TikTok does not.

[zenapollo]

I don’t understand the confusion. The CCP and its state-backed entities have been hammering the US with cyber attacks (on DoD targets), corporate and academic spying, and disinformation campaigns. Despite a relatively friendly commercial environment (friendly as long as China gets everything it wants), China’s intelligence apparatus proposes a clear and obvious threat to national security.

I don’t understand all the constitutional hurdles. However, we know that Russia has heavily invested in disinformation and destabilization for decades. We can and should expect the same from China.

[woooooo]

Lots of people nervous about no longer being number 1, so they manufacture a narrative of conflict which, as you point out, has nothing to do with reality.