US president Donald Trump signed an executive order that bans transactions with eight Chinese apps, claiming these threaten US national security, according to the The Wall Street Journal. The order takes effect in 45 days, after the end of Trump's mandate. The apps include payments platform Alipay; three apps from Tencent including QQ Wallet, WeChat pay and Tencent QQ; CamScanner, a scanning app owned by Intsig Information in Shanghai, as well as Chinese-connected apps SharEit, VMate and WPS Office.
A spokesman for President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team declined to comment on the order, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The new move comes after similar executive orders issued in August against Chinese social-media apps TikTok and WeChat. Both orders faced legal challenges.
One former US trade official said the executive order could lead to the restriction of some of US businesses' transactions in China.
The US president's order alleges the apps could be used to track and build dossiers on US federal employees.
President Trump's order says "by accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information." Trump argues the banned Chinese firms could share data with the Chinese government, a claim China denies.
In response to the US crackdown, China earlier imposed its own laws restricting the export of military technology.
