Speaking to FOX Business Network's Edward Lawrence, US Ambassador to China Nick Burns warned that the US and China have a “very competitive, very challenging, very contentious” relationship.
TikTok is eyeing a US ban that is fast approaching on January 19th. The fate of the social media platform is as ambiguous as The relationship between the US and China.
Ambassador Nick Burns thinks TikTok and other Chinese-based social media apps represent a strategy to undermine America from the inside because the relationship between the two countries is “very competitive, very challenging, very contentious,” he told FOX Business.
“I think it's a strategy. You know, China is a very significant global power. They want to overtake the United States in power. They want to shrink us,” he said.
Burns also noted that the Chinese Communist Party runs a massive propaganda machine that censors incoming information about freedoms in the United States and distorts our issues to make the U.S. look bad in the end.
TIKTOK CEO TO ATTEND INAUGURATION WITH FRONT ROW SEAT AT TRUMP'S INVITATION
A general view of the TikTok headquarters on October 13, 2020 in Culver City, California. (Photo: AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images)
As for TikTok, Burns explained that it's a battle for ideas and every Chinese company will ultimately answer to the government of China. A White House source familiar with the situation told FOX Business that President Biden supported the bipartisan bill that is now law banning the app, but since Jan. 19 falls on a Sunday, it's up to the Trump administration to enforce the ban. , which was confirmed by the Supreme Court on Friday. Inauguration Day is January 20.
On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump provided details of a recent call with the Chinese president.
“I just spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The call was very good for both China and the US. I expect that we will solve many problems together and start immediately. We discussed balancing trade, Fentanyl, TikTok and many other subjects, President Xi and I we will do everything to make the world more peaceful and safer!”
TRUMP, CHINESE XI SPOKE AT PRE-INAUGURATION CALL
Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds during a joint press conference of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian, north China's Shaanxi province, on May 19, 2023. (Photo: FLORENCE LO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Burns stressed that the US must remain tough on China because Communist Party leaders only understand strength.
“There is a price to pay. So I agree with you. All I know is, I've spent the last few years debating, advocating, arguing with Chinese leaders and what they're really responding to our actions,” he said. He thinks the next administration needs to maintain a pressure campaign against China. Burns believes in tariffs on Chinese goods and sanctions until the country establishes a fairer trading environment and deals more fairly with American companies.
THE AIR RACE IN THE USA AND CHINA IS GOING FAST
In testimony Wednesday for Sen. Marco Rubio's Senate nomination for Trump's secretary of state, many of the questions centered around China. Rubio told senators, “The PRC is the most powerful and dangerous near-pure adversary this nation has ever faced.” He added that there is a dangerous imbalance in the relationship between the US and China.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., stops to speak with reporters as he arrives at the Capitol from the Senate subway, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Burns advises the US to lean on its allies in Asia, adding: “Never in the history of the United States have we faced a competitor as strong as China. So we have to make a whole-of-government effort to compete.” of the great advantages we have is that China has no allies in the world, we have treaty allies Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia,” he said.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
The US is not losing to China yet, but we must be vigilant.
“In fact, if I were to measure the strength of the United States versus China, we are stronger,” he offered.
According to him, to keep it that way, the approach of the entire government will be needed.
Burns stepped down Friday after first walking through the doors of the State Department 45 years ago.
