China won't accept TikTok 'theft' - China Daily

China won't accept the so-called 'theft' of a technology company...

And the country can respond to Washington's move to push ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to Microsoft.

That's according to the China Daily newspaper on Tuesday (August 4).

The state-backed paper accused the U.S. of 'bullying' Chinese tech companies, and left them with no choice but for what it called - 'submission' or 'mortal combat in the tech realm'.

U.S. tech giant Microsoft said on Monday (August 3) it was in talks with China's ByteDance to buy parts of its popular TikTok short-video app.

President Donald Trump gave the companies 45 days to strike a deal.

He'd previously threatened to ban TikTok over national security concerns related to its handling of personal data.

In the U.S. alone, TikTok has 100 million users.

Another state-backed Chinese paper also criticised the U.S. treatment of ByteDance and Chinese tech company Huawei.

The Global Times said Tuesday U.S. actions showed up the country's efforts to separate its economy from China's.

The paper also said China only had a 'limited ability' to provide protection to its tech companies and retaliate against the U.S.

The Times claimed it was due to the technological superiority of the United States and the influence is has with its allies.

On Monday, Trump said the U.S. government should get a 'substantial portion' of the TikTok sales price.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro also suggested that Microsoft could divest its holdings in China if it were to buy parts of TikTok.