[WASHINGTON] Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Friday (Sep 19), Chinese state media reported, as they seek an agreement to help keep the video app TikTok online in the US and ease tensions between two superpowers locked in a standoff over trade.
The agreement is at the top of the agenda alongside trade for the leaders’ first known call in three months. The report from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV did not provide any details of the conversation and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump and Xi’s effort to steady relations coincides with discussions on a potential in-person summit between Xi and Trump during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in South Korea on Oct 30-Nov 1, Reuters has reported.
Beijing’s final approval of a framework deal reached by the two sides earlier this week is one of the hurdles Trump needed to clear to keep TikTok open. Congress had ordered the app shut down for US users by January 2025 if its US assets weren’t sold by Chinese owner ByteDance.
Trump has declined to enforce the law while his administration looks for a new owner, but also because he worries a ban on the app would anger TikTok’s huge user base and disrupt political communications.
“I like TikTok; it helped get me elected,” Trump said during a press conference on Thursday. “TikTok has tremendous value. The United States has that value in its hand because we’re the ones that have to approve it.”
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Key questions about the deal remain. It’s not clear the precise ownership structure of the company, how much control China will retain or whether Congress will approve.
The deal would transfer TikTok’s US assets to US owners from ByteDance, Reuters has reported. Sources familiar with the deal said US TikTok would still make use of ByteDance’s algorithm.
That arrangement worries lawmakers concerned that Beijing could spy on Americans or conduct influence operations through the app. China has said there is no evidence of a national security threat posed by the app. REUTERS
