Trump Bans Alipay and seven Other Chinese Apps

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday signed an govt order prohibiting transactions with eight Chinese software program functions, together with Alipay, the cost platform owned by Ant Group, and WeChat Pay, which is owned by Tencent.

The transfer, two weeks earlier than the tip of Mr. Trump’s time period, might assist lock in his administration’s harsher stance towards China and is prone to additional rankle Beijing. But defining the scope of the order and implementing it will presumably fall to the incoming Biden administration, which has not clarified whether or not it is going to attempt to enact Mr. Trump’s bans, creating uncertainty concerning the efficacy of the transfer.

The govt order, issued late Tuesday, will bar any transactions with “persons that develop or control” the apps of Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, WPS Office and their subsidiaries after a interval of 45 days.

In the order, the president mentioned that China had been utilizing “bulk data collection” to advance its financial and nationwide safety agenda, and that the focused apps put Americans in danger.

“The United States has assessed that a number of Chinese connected software applications automatically capture vast swaths of information from millions of users in the United States, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information,” the order mentioned. “At this time, action must be taken to address the threat posed by these Chinese connected software applications,” he wrote.

At a day by day information convention on Wednesday, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry, referred to as on the Trump administration “to provide an open, fair, just and nondiscriminatory business environment,” including that Beijing “will of course take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”

The govt order is the most recent escalation by the Trump administration in opposition to China. Under Mr. Trump, the White House has ramped up tariffs and waged a commerce conflict. It has additionally focused Chinese-owned social media companies, saying they supply a conduit for Chinese espionage and pose a nationwide safety threat to the American public. Last fall, the Trump administration issued govt orders banning two different common Chinese-owned social media companies, TikTok and WeChat.

But each of these bans have turn out to be entangled in litigation, and the companies proceed to function within the United States. That raises the query of whether or not American courts will challenge an injunction to cease Mr. Trump’s newest bans on Chinese companies as nicely.

In a briefing Tuesday night, a senior official with the Trump administration mentioned that it nonetheless anticipated to prevail in these court docket circumstances, and that authorized challenges to the TikTok and WeChat orders had centered on First Amendment rights, which might most certainly not be a major concern with the cost platforms and different apps affected by the most recent order.

The senior official additionally mentioned the Trump administration had not been in touch with the Biden administration concerning the order. The Biden administration didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Tencent declined to remark. The different Chinese tech corporations affected by the order didn’t instantly have a remark.

The order’s attain could also be restricted, provided that the overwhelming majority of customers of the affected apps reside in China. Users of Alipay, for instance, are typically required to own a checking account in China and a Chinese cellphone quantity. Samm Sacks, a cybersecurity coverage and China digital economic system fellow on the New America suppose tank, mentioned it was unlikely that lots of the apps included within the govt order dealt with a lot information belonging to American residents.

Still, the restrictions might fall closely on Chinese-Americans who journey between the international locations or use the companies to remain in contact or perform enterprise with contacts in China.

The measure might also field in President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has indicated that he needs to recalibrate America’s insurance policies towards China whereas persevering with to strain the nation on some points.

“The executive order will take effect on Biden’s watch,” mentioned Ms. Sacks. “Even if his team doesn’t buy the national security risk, politically the order will be tough to unwind without looking like a concession to Beijing. I see the order as a last-minute flailing to try to tie Biden’s hands.”

The new order duties the secretary of commerce with figuring out the kind of transactions that shall be affected in 45 days. It additionally directs the secretary to determine and take applicable motion in opposition to different apps, and make broader suggestions on how the United States ought to develop a program to regulate the movement of private U.S. information to international adversaries, the senior Trump administration official mentioned. The official mentioned the order was not meant to forestall the Chinese corporations from paying their staff within the United States.

In an announcement, Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, mentioned he had directed his division to start enacting the orders, “including identifying prohibited transactions related to certain Chinese connected software applications.”

“I stand with President Trump’s dedication to defending the privateness and safety of Americans from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party,” he added.

The executive order came as the Trump administration and members of Congress also pressured the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday to remove China’s three major state-run telecommunications companies from the exchange.

The stock exchange late Monday had reversed its original plans, announced last week, to delist the companies to comply with an executive order from the administration aimed at stopping American investment in companies linked to the Chinese military.

Alan Rappeport and David McCabe contributed reporting. Claire Fu contributed research.