China’s commerce ministry on Friday called Canberra’s move to ban video-sharing app TikTok on government devices “discriminatory,” saying that it will hurt global confidence in Australia’s business environment.
The remarks come after Australia announced the ban earlier this week in the wake of the U.S. and other intelligence-sharing allies taking similar steps against Beijing-based TikTok, owned by ByteDance Ltd.
“We urge the Australian side to treat all types of enterprises fairly and justly, provide an open, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment, while creating a favorable atmosphere for the development of China-Australia economic and trade cooperation,” an unnamed official from the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement on the government body’s website.
The official said the ban isn’t conducive to maintaining Australia’s national security and is damaging to the interests of the country’s citizens and companies.
The development could strain relations between the two countries, which had started to improve earlier this year after a prolonged standoff over trade issues began to thaw when China lifted restrictions on Australian coal imports.