In the wake of the Narendra Modi government issuing an order on Monday to ban 59 Chinese mobile applications, including popular TikTok and UC Browser, has sent shock waves to China.
Putting up a brave front, the official media outlet of Beijing, Global Times, states: “It is undeniable that the app ban will hurt the commercial interests of relevant Chinese companies, but, when looking at the bigger picture, it is clear that India is in no position to cause harm to China’s juggernaut economy.”
According to Global Times, “China has been calling for calmness” after bloody faceoff on LAC early last month. “But now it seems that not only has the Modi government failed to rein in the rising nationalism among Indians, it has also yielded to domestic pressure and even encouraged such a boycott to escalate,” it said.
It warned India’s attempt to extend the China boycott to the internet services sector is “sending a very negative signal” as the country’s boycott-China provocations will further worsen bilateral relations to “trigger an economic conflict”.
China, which now calls for fair play in business, has banned American tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, from offering their services in that country. China has created its own distinct version of the internet. It popularized the concept of “cyber sovereignty,” to protect its tech companies and stonewall US firms.
a concept coined by Beijing as a challenge to established internet governance rules favoring an open internet. Now, as Chinese tech firms seek to go global themselves, they too are running into political friction.
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