US lawmakers seek to 'break the ice' in China visit amid trade, TikTok tensions

Washington DC [US], September 21 (ANI): In a week marked by tense phone calls and high-stakes negotiations, a group of US lawmakers has touched down in China on a rare visit, hoping to thaw icy ties between the two superpowers, Al Jazeera reported.

The trip comes as Washington and Beijing remain at odds over trade, the fate of TikTok, and rising military tensions in the South China Sea.

According to a US media pool report, the members of the US House of Representatives met on Sunday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and relayed that they hoped to “break the ice” as the superpowers try to make progress on stabilising ties.

The trip comes just two days after US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first phone call in three months, as per Al Jazeera.

While the leaders touched on several key issues, there was no breakthrough on TikTok — the wildly popular Chinese-owned app with 170 million users in the United States.

The White House said on Saturday that an emerging deal would give US companies control over TikTok’s algorithm, and US citizens would hold the majority of seats, six out of seven, on a board overseeing the app’s US operations.

The app’s algorithm controls what users see, and US officials have often warned that it is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, according to Al Jazeera.

But Trump told reporters on Saturday evening that “great American patriots” were planning to buy the app, which was supposed to be banned in the US in January.

The president has signed repeated orders to allow the app to continue working while his administration tries to reach a deal with its owner, China’s ByteDance, to sell its US operations.

“And they’re [the buyers] very smart technologically, and they will not let anything bad happen to TikTok,” Trump said.

One of the likely buyers of TikTok’s US operations is Oracle, the tech giant led by billionaire Larry Ellison, a long-time Trump supporter.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Fox News interview on Saturday that the administration is “100 per cent confident that a deal is done.”

“[Trump] recognised the need to protect Americans’ privacy and data while also keeping this app open,” Leavitt said, adding, “TikTok is a vital part of our democratic process,” and she anticipated the deal to be finalised in “the coming days.” (ANI)

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