Former Australian reporter in Beijing said his 14-year-old daughter was threatened with detention

 A former ABC reporter in Beijing said Monday that he and his 14-year-old daughter were threatened with detention before they left China two years ago.

Matthew Carney said he had not revealed the 2018 incident until now because he had wanted to avoid “negative consequences” for Australian Broadcasting Corp.’s operations in China. Two weeks ago reporters for the state-funded ABC and The Australian Financial Review newspaper became the last two Australian journalists working for Australian media to leave China due to threats of detention.

Carney was the ABC’s China bureau chief in 2018 when Australia passed laws outlawing covert foreign interference in domestic politics, which he said “outraged” China. Carney said the laws started “three months of intimidation and all types of threats” for him and his family.

Carney told his story in an interview aired on ABC radio and in an account posted on the news organization’s website Monday. There was no immediate response from China. Carney said he was told to bring this 14-year-old daughter, Yasmine, to a Beijing Public Security facility where interrogations and detentions were the norm.

A woman official told him that he and his daughter were being investigated for a “visa crime.” “Your daughter is 14 years old. She is an adult under Chinese law and as the People’s Republic of China is a law-abiding country she will be charged with the visa crime,” Carney said he was told.

He said the woman said his daughter could be detained “with other adults” in an undisclosed location. “She was obviously very skilled in interrogation and in ramping up the fear and the panic,” Carney said. Carney said he offered to leave China with his wife and three children the next day, but was told he could not leave the country while he was under investigation.

With his visa due to expire within days, the official said he could be placed in detention. After consultation with the Australian Embassy and the ABC, Carney said he decided to confess his guilt and apologize for the “bizarre visa violation,” on condition that his daughter was allowed to stay with the family.

Their confessions were video recorded and the woman told him she would write a report to “the higher authority” for judgment. With the family’s visas about to expire, the official said the judgment could be weeks away. But he got a phone call the next day and was told two-month extensions had been granted to their visas.

He said he thought it was “some bizarre theater” to send a message to himself and Australia’s government that “A, if you do bad reporting, B, if your government is going to introduce harsh laws we don’t agree with, well then there is a price to be paid?”

“In retrospect, that’s what I think it was, thank God. They didn’t follow through on their threats,” Carney said. Carney said he made the sudden decision to leave China after a Chinese woman threatened to sue him for defamation over a story he reported about Chinese attempts to engineer better citizen behavior.

He had legal advice that that he would be banned from leaving once legal proceedings were initiated against him. Australia updated its travel advice in July to warn its citizens of potential arbitrary detention on security grounds in China.

Chinese-Australian spy novelist and blogger Yang Hengjun has been detained in China since he arrived on a flight from New York in January last year in what some suspects is a Chinese reaction to deteriorating bilateral relations. The 55-year-old has since been charged with endangering state security.

The Chinese foreign ministry said the day the last two Australian journalists working for Australian media in China left the country that Australian citizen Cheng Lei, a business news anchor for CGTN, China’s English-language state media channel, had been detained on suspicion of national security crimes.

India: Delhi Journalist Rajeev Sharma arrested on charges of spying, sold sensitive information to Chinese intelligence agencies

New Delhi: A freelance journalist who was arrested on charges of spying two days ago, was allegedly passing on sensitive information to Chinese intelligence agencies, said Delhi police on saturday, claiming to have a busted a major spying operation amid soaring tensions between the two countries.

The Delhi Police said it has also arrested a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate, and claimed that they were paying huge amounts of money to the freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma for allegedly providing sensitive information."Special Cell has arrested a freelance journalist, Rajeev Sharma, for passing sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. One Chinese lady and her Nepalese associate have also been arrested for paying him large amounts of money routed through shell companies. Chinese intelligence tasked the journalist for conveying sensitive information in lieu of large amounts of money," the police said.

"Huge number of mobile phones, laptops and other incriminating and sensitive material have been recovered," the police said. Mr Sharma, a journalist accredited with the Press Information Bureau (PIB) who lived in Delhi's Pitampura, was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Monday.

"He was found to be in possession of some classified defence-related documents. The investigation is in progress and further details will be shared in due course," senior police officer Sanjeev Kumar Yadav had said on Friday.

According to the police, Mr Sharma was getting $1,000 for each piece of information and was paid Rs. 30 lakh in one-and-a-half years. He wrote on defence-related issues for China's Global Times and was contacted by Chinese agents in 2016, the police said.

Sharply criticising the arrest the "well-known independent journalist of long standing", the Press Club of India (PCI) called the move "high-handed" and alleged that it "may be inspired by obscure or questionable considerations".

"This is on account of the dubious track record of the Special Cell. More generally also, the record of Delhi Police is hardly a shining one," it said.

"Of late, Delhi Police, including its Special Cell, have made preposterous arrests under the lawless law called UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) in which the word of the government is enough to keep an innocent person behind bars for long periods. These have happened in matters relating to anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests and the carefully designed communal killings in the so-called February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi," the PCI said. 

The arrests come amid a months-long border standoff between India and China in Ladakh that peaked on June 15, when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the line of duty - a first in more than four decades. Even after that, there have been repeated attempts by the Chinese troops to recapture the heights occupied by the Indian soldiers.

Australia says security agencies acted on evidence in Chinese journalist raid

Sydney, Australia: Australia’s security agencies acted on evidence related to a foreign interference investigation when a raid was conducted on Chinese journalists in Australia in June, the country’s trade minister said on Friday.

The incident, involving four Chinese state media journalists, was revealed by China’s foreign ministry this week, in the wake of two Australian journalists departing China after questioning by Chinese police. Relations between Australia and top trading partner China are at a low ebb after Beijing was angered by Canberra’s call for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, responding with trade reprisals, and Australia toughened national security tests for foreign investment.


Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the Australian security agencies had acted according to the law. “We appropriately respond in relation to any foreign interference concerns that are raised in Australia,” he told the ABC News Breakfast television programme, when asked about the incident. “We do it purely in relation to the evidence,” he added.

Birmingham denied suggestions the June raid had provoked a retaliation from Beijing which saw exit bans placed on journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corp and the Australian Financial Review newspaper in China last week, and the pair seeking consular protection.

China has accused the Australian embassy of obstructing law enforcement when it sheltered the two journalists who were wanted for questioning in the country and returned to Australia this week. Birmingham denied this and said Australian embassy officials had respected China’s processes to negotiate an outcome.


“The embassy engaged diligently to ensure the safety of the two individuals concerned, but they also engaged cooperatively with Chinese officials to ensure the resolution of the matter, which included the opportunity for Chinese authorities to interview the individuals concerned,” he told ABC radio. Another Australian citizen, Chinese television anchor Cheng Lei, was detained by Chinese authorities in August.

China Vs Australia: China Detains High-Profile Australian Journalist and television anchor

Sydney, Australia: China has detained an Australian journalist working for its state-run English-language television network CGTN, Australia's foreign minister said on Monday.

The detention of journalist Cheng Lei is a new blow to deteriorating relations between the two countries that have seen China warn its citizens of travelling to Australia and vice-versa. Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia was informed on August 14 that Cheng was being held by Beijing authorities. Australian consular officials spoke to Cheng in her detention facility via video link on August 27 and were in touch with her family, Payne said in a statement.

She provided no further details, but public broadcaster ABC said Cheng's friends became concerned after she stopped responding to messages in recent weeks. The CGTN website page which described Cheng as an anchor on the network's Global Business programme was no longer available after news of her detention emerged.

The ABC said Cheng was being held under "residential surveillance at a designated location", a form of detention that allows investigators to hold and question a suspect for up to six months without them being formally arrested. The broadcaster published a statement by Cheng's family in Melbourne expressing confidence that "In China, due process will be observed and we look forward to a satisfactory and timely conclusion to the matter."



"We ask that you respect that process and understand there will be no further comment at this time," the statement said. Ties began to sour between Australia and China- its biggest trading partner- more than two years ago when Australian authorities began to move against what was seen as China's growing political interference and influence peddling in the country.

Beijing was particularly infuriated by Australia's leading role in international calls earlier this year for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Since then, China has taken steps to curb key Australian imports and encouraged Chinese students and tourists to avoid the country.

Cheng is the second high-profile Australian citizen to be detained in Beijing after writer Yang Hengjun was arrested in January 2019 on suspicion of espionage. Earlier this year Australia warned its citizens they faced the risk of arbitrary detention if they traveled to China.

Hong Kong Rejects Journalist's Visa, Stoking Press Freedom Concerns

Hong Kong: A Hong Kong news website said on Thursday that authorities had rejected a visa for an Irish journalist working there without providing a reason, stoking concerns about media freedoms under Beijing’s new national security law for the city.

Aaron McNicholas, who covered the city’s sometimes-violent anti-government protests last year for Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), waited almost six months before being told his visa had been denied, the outlet said. “It seems we have been targeted under the climate of the new security law and because of our impartial and fact-based coverage,” HKFP editor-in-chief Tom Grundy said in a statement. The news website would press the government to offer reasons for the denial and would consider an appeal and legal challenge, he added.

The Hong Kong government and immigration department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Media groups said the move reflected an acceleration in the decline of press freedoms under the security law which punishes what Beijing defines as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in jail.

“Denial of a work visa to a thriving local news operation bashes the most basic promise of press freedom given repeatedly by the Hong Kong government,” said Steven Butler, Asia Programme Coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “It also severely undermines Hong Kong’s status as an international city and financial centre, which cannot flourish unless journalists are free to do their work.”

Journalists in the former British colony have told Reuters they fear the legislation could be used to silence media and crack down on freedom of expression, concerns the Hong Kong government has rejected. The semi-autonomous city is guaranteed freedom of speech and the press under Article 27 of the Basic Law, the mini-constitution agreed by China when it took back control of the global financial hub in 1997.

The news comes more than a month after The New York Times said it would shift part of its Hong Kong office to Seoul as it faced challenges securing work permits. The Hong Kong government said at the time the city remained a regional media hub.

Corona Vaccine Race: China's latest COVID-19 phase III vaccine to be available, affordable to people worldwide

Beijing: China's vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic will be available and affordable to people worldwide, said Liu Jingzhen, chairman of China National Pharmaceutical Group, in Beijing on Thursday. 

A ceremony took place in Beijing on Thursday to launch phase three clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine in Peru. Peru's national health authorities have approved the trials, the latest in China's efforts to strengthen international cooperation in pandemic control. "We launched the promotion of international clinical trials in April. So we’re making key breakthroughs in the United Arab Emirates, which have been very successful. Today, we established a cooperation relationship with Peru, and officially received the documents in all aspects, and will soon start equity participation. Up to now, the clinical phase three trials, from the experimental point of view, the layout is completely sufficient," said Liu.

Liu said that China's Biotec Group is carrying out the research with experts from some of Peru's leading universities. "In Peru, we're working with the National University of San Marcos and another university [University of Cayetano Heredia], specifically to cooperate comprehensively on the clinical phase three trials. They're two of the top universities in Peru, and their experts have been very professional across the board," said Liu.

Liu added that the vaccines will only be used after sufficient preparations and they are striving to make it available to the public worldwide. "Vaccines are to be used for prevention by healthy people. It must be accessible to the general public. According to President Xi Jinping's speech at the World Health Assembly, China's vaccines will be used as global public goods after research and development is successful, which means both available and affordable to the people worldwide," Liu said.

Liu pointed out two research and production facilities in Beijing and Wuhan, which was hit the hardest by the virus, that could ensure the supply of 200 million vaccines a year. "We have two research and production facilities in Beijing and Wuhan, which can ensure the next large-scale quantitative production, feasibility and availability of the vaccines. We are making every effort to prepare for the vaccine's mass production. According to normal daytime production speed, we can supply over 200 million vaccines a year. We can ensure the availability and mass production on the basis of the quality, safety, and effectiveness of our vaccines," said Liu.

Liu introduced that taking an injection twice with an interval of 28 days would give the best effect of the vaccines. "According to our clinical experiments, taking two injections can achieve the best effect. The best interval between the two injections is 28-days, which would ensure overall effectiveness, because, after the first injection, the antibody would increase slowly and after the second injection, the antibody increases quite fast. The two injections could guarantee the validity and could prolong the validity. So this method is best in effectiveness, which is approved by experimental data," said Liu.

China's 1300-year-old Buddha statue endangered by floods

Leshan, Sichuan, China:  A 1,300-year-old stone Buddha in China's Sichuan province has been endangered by floods overloading its surrounding river on Tuesday, according to state media.

The 71-metre-tall Buddha in Leshan city which was built from 713 AD has been surrounded by swollen rivers caused by heavy rains. Its toes were submerged in water at one point, the first time this has happened in 70 years according to state news agency Xinhua. Sichuan launched the highest level of flood emergency response on Tuesday with almost 130,000 residents evacuated and entire villages submerged.

Southern China has been hit by torrential rains this flood season. According to China's Ministry of Emergency Management, more than 54 million people have been affected by the floods in July.

Taiwan says China behind cyber attacks on government agencies, emails

Taipei: Taiwan said on Wednesday, China was behind cyber attacks in an 'infiltration' aiming to steal important data from the government.

Democratic Taiwan has been urging its people to be alert for what officials call an "omnipresent infiltration" from China, that includes Beijing-backed media campaigns and cyber attacks against the island that China considers its territory. "Basically, we found that some of the IP addresses and other login domains (of the hacking groups) are those malicious domains and IP addresses which some mainland hacking groups often use," said the deputy director of the Taiwan Investigation Bureau's Cyber Security Investigation Office, Liu Chia-zung.

"Using those service providers as a springboard of base stations, (the hacking groups) can attack our government agencies and obtain some important documents and material from our government agencies," Liu told reporters.

The attacks, which started as early as 2018, targeted at least 10 government agencies and the email accounts of some 6,000 officials, Liu's office said, adding it had not been able to identify what data has been stolen as the hackers had concealed their tracks.

China grants country's first COVID-19 vaccine patent to CanSino

Tianjin: China's vaccine specialist CanSino Biologics Inc has won a patent approval from Beijing for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate Ad5-nCoV, state media reported, citing documents from the country's intellectual property regulator.

It is the first COVID-19 vaccine patent granted by China, according to state-owned newspaper People's Daily. The paper cited documents published by China's National Intellectual Property Administration saying that the patent was issued on Aug. 11. A late-stage trial of a COVID-19 candidate vaccine from CanSino Biologics Inc has started in Russia, registration records showed, as the Chinese pharmaceutical firm steps up testing abroad to close in on regulatory approval.

The Ad5-nCoV vaccine already has approval for use by China's military after early and mid-stage trials, and further late-stage trials are being lined up for Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

China: 21 cars fall into sinkhole as road collapses in Southwest China

Yibin, Sichuan, China: A huge sinkhole swallowed 21 vehicles on Wednesday after a road collapsed after midnight in southwest China, state media CCTV reported.

Video footage obtained by CCTV shows the moment cars parked near a shopping mall dropped into a huge sinkhole when the road in front of the building suddenly caved in. Fifteen vehicles have been lifted up and no casualties were reported, according to CCTV. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Massive sinkhole swallows 21 cars as road collapses in SW Chinahttps://t.co/408W6O84sX pic.twitter.com/4YWni7FKvX

— Yeni Şafak English (@yenisafakEN) August 19, 2020

Sichuan province, through which the Yangtze river flows, has been battering against a new round of torrential rainfall and raised its emergency response to the maximum level on Tuesday 

COVID-19 vaccine race: China approves first coronavirus vaccine patent

China has granted its first COVID-19 vaccine patent to the adenovirus vector vaccine developed by Chen Wei of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Chinese biotech company CanSino Biologics, according to the National Intellectual Property Administration.

The patent was submitted for application on March 18 and was approved on Aug 11, according to the patent document. The vaccine, dubbed "Ad5-nCoV", uses a weakened common cold virus to introduce genetic material from the novel coronavirus into the human body. The goal is to train the body to produce antibodies that recognize the COVID-19 protein spike and fight it off.

Phase-two clinical trials have shown it to be safe and capable of inducing an immune response, according to research published in the journal Lancet last month. Meanwhile, phase-three clinical trials are currently in the pipeline and will include more participants and be conducted overseas.

Experts have called adenovirus vector vaccine a promising technique for its safety and potency against COVID-19 based on current evidence, as well as its potential in mass production. The United Kingdom and Russia are also working on a vaccine candidate using this kind of technology.

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and activist Agnes Chow released on bail

Hong Kong media tycoon and Apple Daily owner Jimmy Lai was released on bail shortly after midnight on Wednesday, nearly two days after being arrested under Bejing's new national security law.

Lai was mobbed by a large crowd of media and a throng of supporters outside the Mong Kok police station who chanted "support Apple Daily until the end" in Cantonese. Lai did not speak with media after being released from police custody and was quickly driven away from the scene. Apple Daily readers had queued from the early hours of Tuesday to get copies of the newspaper, a day after police raided its offices and took Lai into detention, the highest-profile arrest under the national law.

Mainland-born Lai, who was smuggled into Hong Kong on a fishing boat when he was a penniless 12-year-old, is one of the most prominent democracy activists in the city and an ardent critic of Communist Party rule in Beijing. Meanwhile in Hong Kon's Tai Po district, young politcal activist Agnes Chow was also realsed on bail just before midnight.

Chow spoke outside the precint saying her arrest was a "political persecution,"and accused the regime of using the national security law to "suppress political dissidents." The security law punishes anything China considers subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. Critics say it crushes freedoms, while supporters say it will bring stability after prolonged anti-China, pro-democracy protests last year.

Hong Kong activist said national security law is used for political repression

Hong Kong activist Agnes Chow said on Tuesday that the state's new national security law has been used for political repression after she was released on bail following her arrest.

The 23-year-old activist spoke in Japanese to the media outside a police station and showed her bail document. She was accompanied by fellow activist Joshua Wong. Chow was arrested on Monday along with 9 other people, including the owner of Hong Kong's Apple Daily tabloid, Jimmy Lai. Chow also said her fourth arrest was the scariest but that nonetheless she would continue to fight from Hong Kong's democracy. "In the last 24 hours, I haven't heard the reason and how I violated the national security law or participated in an event against the law," she added.

The activist was one of the former leaders of young activist Joshua Wong's Demosisto pro-democracy group, which disbanded before the new law came into force. The sweeping security law imposed on June 30 punishes anything China considers secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

The city's Beijing-backed government and Chinese authorities say the law is necessary to restore order after months of at times violent anti-government protests last year, sparked by fears China was slowly eroding those freedoms.

Hong Kong has since become another source of contention between the United States and China, whose relations were already at their most strained in years over issues including trade, the coronavirus, China's treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority and its claims in the South China Sea.

TikTok to sue Trump administration over executive order ban

China: TikTok is planning to sue the Trump administration, challenging the U.S. president's executive order banning the video-sharing app in the United States, according to U.S. National Public Radio, or NPR.

Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order barring transactions with TikTok's parent company ByteDance and also Tencent, owner of WeChat, starting in 45 days.NPR reported that the lawsuit will argue that Trump's action is unconstitutional because it didn't give the company a chance to respond. TikTok also alleges that the administration's national security justification for the order is baseless, according to the source.

TikTok will file the federal lawsuit as soon as Tuesday, the outlet said, citing a person "who was directly involved in the forthcoming suit but was not authorized to speak for the company."

China's Sinovac launches Phase 3 trial for COVID-19 vaccine in Indonesia

Bandung: Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday said the country hoped to start producing coronavirus vaccines by January if late-stage human trials prove successful.

Widodo was in Bandung, West Java province to launch the phase three human trial for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd and Indonesian state-owned peer Bio Farma, which will involve as many as 1,620 patients. Sinovac's Indonesia trial comes as Southeast Asia's most populous country grapples with spiking infection numbers, with over 127,000 cases recorded as of Tuesday. The trial has so far recruited 1,215 people and will last six months.

The candidate, known as CoronaVac, is among a few potential vaccines that have entered late-stage trials for a large-scale study to gather proof of efficacy for regulatory approval. In Sinovac's mid-stage trial involving 600 participants in China, the rate of fever in patients was relatively lower than other COVID-19 candidates including one from AstraZeneca, the study showed ahead of peer review.

Sinovac is testing its vaccine abroad because China is no longer a satisfactory site for late-stage trials due to the low number of new infection cases.

Hong Kong Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Arrested on suspicion of breaching national security law

Hong Kong: Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and six others were arrested Monday morning on suspicion of breaching the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, according to Hong Kong police and local media.

At least seven suspects aged from 39 to 72 were arrested on suspicion of collusion with foreign forces and conspiracy to commit fraud and sedition, said the Hong Kong Police Force.

Hong Kong media said Jimmy Lai, an instigator of Hong Kong riots, was among those arrested.

This is the third time for Lai to be arrested by the Hong Kong police. On Feb. 28, Lai, together with other two, were arrested for violating Hong Kong's Public Order Ordinance by participating in an unauthorized assembly between Wan Chai area and Central area on Aug. 31, 2019, thus were jointly charged with the count of "knowingly participating in unauthorized assembly."

In addition, Lai, also suspected of violating Hong Kong's Crimes Ordinance by verbally intimidating a man during an assembly on June 4, 2017 in the Eastern District on Hong Kong Island, was charged with the count of "criminal intimidation."

For the case of criminal intimidation, the court granted Lai bail pending trial. He was prohibited from leaving Hong Kong and was required to report to the police station every week. He was also arrested on April 18 along side with 14 others for violating the Public Order Ordinance by organizing and taking part in the unauthorized assemblies last year.

China: 400 drones light up night sky in Wuhan to show respect for locals

Wuhan, China: A light show was performed by 400 drones in Wuhan City, central China's Hubei Province at Sunday night, to pay respect for the Wuhan residents.

At 20:00 Sunday, the 400 drones took off from Wuhan's Central Cultural District and gave a performance at a height of 249 meters. Equipped with colorful LEDs, these drones displayed the images of Wuhan's landmark architectures including the Yellow Crane Tower and Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge as well as Chinese characters to remind the public of the city's changes and development over the years, and pay respect to its people who fought bravely against the COVID-19 epidemic and the flood disaster.

The Wuhan residents were deeply moved by such words as "Wuhan has awakened, and future will be better", and "Let's stand together and share the same future". A resident said that all people share a common future is what Wuhan people learned during the epidemic. Wuhan is recovering from the epidemic and the floods, and people living in Wuhan will have a brighter future.

'Trump hurts his own voters by banning WeChat,' says Chinese American

New York: U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with the Chinese owners of messaging app WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok, escalating a high-stakes confrontation with Beijing over the future of the global tech industry.

"Me and my mom, she's now in China, and WeChat provides a very easy, convenient platform for her where she comes from. She is from a generation that experienced a cultural revolution, and for many reasons that she couldn't get higher education. And the apps are high-tech these days, for her it is a bit overwhelming. But WeChat is so easy. Just a few clicks, she has sent a message, she can type something, and she can just send a voice message. That's most (of what ) she she does. And this morning she was so worried and called me on WeChat and asked me, 'is it true?' I said they are making a move, but I'm not sure what's the outcome." said Dong Zheng, 36, American citizen, originally from China. 

The executive orders announced Thursday and effective in 45 days come after the Trump administration this week flagged increased effort to purge "untrusted" Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks, calling Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat and Bytedance's popular TikTok "significant threats."

American citizen and originally from China, Leanna Louie said, "A lot of people, WeChat is, like, their life, you know. They live their life around it, you know? Some of them buy food from it, sell food from it. Some people buy houses and sell houses through WeChat. They buy clothing and sell clothing through WeChat. They buy and sell cars through WeChat. They even buy and sell cell phones through it. So, all those basic needs that we're talking about is all transacted through WeChat. And if it's cut out from their lives, then, you know, it's going to make it more difficult for them. And as a president, do you want to make people's lives better, or do you want to make their lives worse? I think that's what you have to ask."

China said on Friday the companies comply with U.S. laws and regulations and warned that the United States would have to "bear the consequences" of its action.

Trump orders transactions ban on WeChat, stoking tension with Beijing

Beijing, China: U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled a sweeping ban on U.S. transactions with the Chinese messaging app giant WeChat, escalating a high-stakes confrontation with Beijing over the future of the global tech industry.

The executive orders announced Thursday and effective in 45 days come after the Trump administration this week flagged increased effort to purge "untrusted" Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks, calling Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat and Bytedance's popular TikTok "significant threats.

"The ban on U.S. transactions with Tencent, one of the world's biggest internet companies, portends further fracturing of the global internet and severing of long-standing ties between the tech industries in the United States and China.

WeChat has been downloaded a relatively small 19 million times in the United States, according to data from Sensor Tower. In China, however, the app is ubiquitous as a medium for services as varied as games and payment. It is also a common platform to communicate with individuals and businesses outside of China.

Trump's order sent Asian stock markets lower on Friday (August 7), with Tencent shares falling as far as 10.1% before recouping some of its losses in afternoon trade.

Russia supported China, Russian foreign ministry said- "US TikTok move unfair"

Russia: U.S. efforts to clamp down on popular short video-sharing app TikTok are an "egregious" example of unfair economic competition for U.S. dominance in the international information space, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Saturday.

"The actions of the U.S. authorities run counter to the basic principles of a free market economy and violate rules of the World Trade Organization," Zakharova said in a commentary posted on the foreign ministry's website. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday issued an executive order banning any U.S. transactions with Chinese tech firm ByteDance, owner of TikTok, starting 45 days from then.

Washington has also threatened to ban TikTok's business in the United States if it is not sold to a U.S. company before Sept. 15.

These restrictions have violated a wide range of Washington's international obligations to ensure the free and wide distribution of information, the free choice of its sources, and to encourage cooperation in this area, Zakharova said.

She said that Moscow is calling on Washington to reconsider its methods to preserve the monopoly of U.S. IT giants in international social networks and ensure they meet generally accepted values and international legal norms.

"We hope that specialized international structures and human rights organizations will react appropriately and give an impartial assessment of these actions," she added.