‘Rupture in digital world’ as Trump orders ban on TikTok, WeChat in 45 days

Tiktok has come under fire from US lawmakers and the administration over national security concerning data collection

President Donald Trump announced Thursday sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with China’s ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent, operator of the WeChat app, starting in 45 days, in a major escalation of tensions with Beijing that one analyst described as “rupture in the digital world”. The executive orders come as the Trump administration said this week it was stepping up efforts to purge “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat “significant threats.”

Tiktok, the hugely popular video-sharing app, has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers and the administration over national security concerning data collection, amid intensified tension between Washington and Beijing. Trump issued the orders under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that grants the administration sweeping power to bar U.S. firms or citizens from trading or conducting financial transactions with sanctioned parties.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday expanded efforts on a program it calls “Clean Network” would focus on five areas and include steps to prevent various Chinese apps, as well as Chinese telecoms companies, from accessing sensitive information on American citizens and businesses.

‘Freedom loving people of Hong Kong would prevail’: Pompeo slams at China

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on Friday that the Legislative Council elections scheduled for September 6 will be postponed over the COVID-19 threat

Condemning the delay in legislative elections in Hong Kong, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said the only reason for the postponement is Beijing’s fear that Chinese Communist Party candidates would be crushed.

“COVID-19 is not the reason for the delay in the election. The reason for the delay – there was scheduled to be an election in Hong Kong on September 6th. The reason for the delay is that the Chinese Communist Party candidates would be crushed, and the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong would prevail, and the leadership in Beijing simply can’t permit that to happen,” Pompeo told Fox News.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on Friday that the Legislative Council elections scheduled for September 6 will be postponed over the COVID-19 threat. “Look, this is part of what we’re seeing happen all across the threat from the Chinese Communist Party: increased denial of freedom for people in their own country; and then extending that now to people outside of their country. That national security law can be applied to people all across the world,” The Us Secretary of State said.

Previous policy against China did not work, US to take new path: Pompeo

The National Security Law, he says, has taken away the freedom of the people of Hong Kong

International News: The United States has to take a different path with regard to China as the previous policy of helping them open up their economy with the believe that this would lead to more political freedom has not worked, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

"The theory of the case that was more economic opening will lead to more political freedoms, more fundamental rights being provided to the Chinese people, just turned out not to have been true. It just didn't work. I'm not criticising those who came before; we can now plainly see that it didn't work, and that means the United States has to take a different path," Pompeo told Tony Perkins of Washington Watch in an interview.

President Donald Trump, he said, has laid that path out pretty clearly.

"He is the first president and this is not partisan. This is Republican and Democrat presidents before him allowed China to engage in a trade relationship with the United States that caused middle (class) America, working people all across the United States, to lose their jobs," he said.

US may ban Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, says Mike Pompeo

TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps, were banned in India last week following a border clash with China.

Days after India banned 59 apps including TikTok and UC Browser, the United States on Tuesday said that it was also 'looking' at banning Chinese social media apps. “I don’t want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it’s something we’re looking at,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News, as reported by Reuters.

ALSO READ: TikTok to exit Hong Kong market within days over new national security law

TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps, including Tencent Holdings LTD’s WeChat and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s UC Browser, were banned in India last week following a border clash with China. India had banned apps for engaging in "activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". In response, China described New Delhi's actions as "discriminatory" while calling for the reversal of the ban.

Trump memo asks US exchanges to protect investors from Chinese firms

“For decades, Chinese companies have availed themselves of the benefits of US financial markets, and capital raised in the US has helped fuel China’s rapid economic growth,” Trump said

President Donald Trump on Thursday said that it is wrong and dangerous for China to benefit from US capital markets without complying with critical protections that investors rightfully deserve. He issued a memorandum to protect American investors from Chinese companies.

“For decades, Chinese companies have availed themselves of the benefits of US financial markets, and capital raised in the US has helped fuel China’s rapid economic growth,” Trump said. The memorandum was issued to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other members of the top national security leadership. ” While China reaps advantages from US markets, the Chinese government has consistently prevented Chinese companies and companies with significant operations in China from abiding by the investor protections that apply to all companies listing on US stock exchanges,” Trump alleged.

“China’s actions to thwart our transparency laws raise significant risks for investors. The time has come to take firm action in an orderly fashion to put an end to the practice that has tacitly permitted companies with significant Chinese operations to flout protections United States law requires for investors in United States markets,” Trump said…Read More

China must use diplomacy to settle border issues with India: US House panel

We see increasing forces of China moved up to the north of India on the Line of Actual Control there on the Indian border, says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

China has moved up its forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said, asserting that authoritarian regimes take these kinds of actions.Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have witnessed major military build-up by both the Indian and Chinese armies recently, in a clear signal of escalating tension and hardening of respective positions by the two sides even two weeks after they were engaged in two separate face-offs.

Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have witnessed major military build-up by both the Indian and Chinese armies recently, in a clear signal of escalating tension and hardening of respective positions by the two sides even two weeks after they were engaged in two separate face-offs.

India has said that its troops fully abide by the alignment of the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border and it is the Chinese side that has undertaken activity hindering India’s normal patrolling patterns.”We see even today increasing forces of China moved up to the north of India on the Line of Actual Control there on the Indian border,” Pompeo told Marc Thiessen and Danielle Pletka of AEI’s ‘What The Hell Is Going On’ Podcast…Read More

Coronavirus updates and highlights: A quick look at the major developments

In Russia, new cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time, while the death toll in Britain mounted near that of Italy, the epicenter of Europes outbreak

Globally, more than 3.5 million people have been infected by the coronavirus, and close to 2.5 lakh people have died due to the pandemic. Speaking of the nations hit most with the infectious disease, the US tops the list with more than a million cases, followed by Spain (247,122), Italy (210,717), the UK (186,599), France (168,693) and Germany (165,664).

However, the US, Italy, and Spain among others have started thinking about re-opening as the virus spread seems to have slowed down. While millions of people took advantage of easing coronavirus lockdowns to enjoy the outdoors, some of the world’s most populous countries reported worrisome new peaks in infections Sunday, including India, which saw its biggest single-day jump yet, AP reports. The total number of Covid-19 cases in India has reached 42,533, with more than 2,500 cases being reported in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Statewise, Maharashtra has reported the most cases in the country (12,974), followed by Gujarat (5,428), Delhi (4,549), Madhya Pradesh (2,846), Rajasthan (2,772), Tamil Nadu (2,757), and Uttar Pradesh (2,626).

In major developments, we came across the news of the US President Donald Trump claiming that a vaccine to treat corona patients could be ready by end of this year. Trump believes as many as 100,000 Americans could die in the coronavirus pandemic, after the death toll passed his earlier estimates, but said he was confident a vaccine would be developed by the year’s end…Read More

Trump’s trip demonstrates value US places on ties with India: Mike Pompeo

Acting Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells said an excellent progress was made during the presidential visit to India

President Donald Trump’s simply closed India trip showed the worth the United Stated set on its ties with New Delhi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday. Trump’s “first official outing to India this week exhibits the worth the US puts on the US-India association”, Pompeo said in a tweet, a day after the president came back from his memorable two-day visit to India with stops in Ahmedabad, Agra and New Delhi. “Majority rule customs join us, shared interests bond us, and under the President’s administration our association has and will just become more grounded,” Pompeo said as he re-tweeted the White House post with comments by Trump.

“As we extend our organization with India, we recall that our two nations have consistently been joined by shared conventions of vote based system and constitutions that ensure opportunity, singular rights, and the standard of law,” Donald Trump said in the White House post that likewise had four photos of his gatherings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a progression of tweets, Acting Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells said a superb advancement was made during the presidential visit to India. “Brilliant advancement made for the current week in US India organization,” she said. Trump’s excursion to India propelled the common objectives and made ready for additional collaboration in key territories, for example, vitality, safeguard, individuals to-individuals ties and Indo-Pacific coordination, Wells said…

Pompeo tries to salvage a post-Brexit Britain alliance amid growing rift

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been touting the prospects of a big new trade deal with the United States that can fill the void of Britain’s departure from the European Union on Friday

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits London on Wednesday to salvage a post-Brexit alliance with an old friend whose defiance on China and Iran underscores Washington’s diplomatic isolation.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been touting the prospects of a big new trade deal with the United States that can fill the void of Britain’s departure from the European Union on Friday. But Pompeo’s meetings with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Johnson on Wednesday and Thursday threatens to become a damage limitation exercise for the “special relationship”.

Mike Pompeo had been doing his best to convince Johnson that allowing China’s Huawei tech giant to help build Britain’s next-generation 5G network introduced a long-term security threat. Britain approved a limited but still important role for Huawei on Tuesday. “The United States is disappointed by the UK’s decision,” a senior administration official said in a terse statement. And Johnson had been pushing Washington to send back the wife of a US diplomat who is using the cover of diplomatic immunity to avoid prosecution over the death of a teenager in a road accident in England last August.

The United States rejected Anne Sacoolas’s extradition to Britain last week. “We feel this amounts to a denial of justice,” Raab said in response. “The UK would have acted differently if this had been a UK diplomat serving in the US.” Disagreements about Iran and a US prosecutor’s complaint that Prince Andrew was stonewalling an FBI investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein only add to the layers of tensions.

Attack on Saudi oil site was an Iranian ‘act of war’, says Pompeo

Iran, which has denied involvement in the attack, warned the US it will retaliate immediately if it is targeted

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations an “act of war” against the kingdom by Iran, as the Saudis displayed missile and drone wreckage and cited other evidence they said shows the raid was “unquestionably sponsored by Iran.” Iran, which has denied involvement in the attack, warned the US it will retaliate immediately if it is targeted. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said he is moving to increase financial sanctions on Tehran over the attack.

At a news conference, Saudi military spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki said the attack Saturday that did heavy damage to the heart of the Saudi oil industry was “launched from the north and was unquestionably sponsored by Iran.” Yemen lies to the south of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq to the north. Al-Malki stopped short of accusing Iran of actually firing the weapons itself or launching them from Iranian territory.

Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in response to the yearslong Saudi-led war in Yemen that has killed tens of thousands of people. At the news conference, the Saudis displayed broken and burned drones and pieces of a cruise missile that Al-Malki identified as Iranian weapons collected after the attack. He also played surveillance video that he said showed a drone coming in from the north.

Eighteen drones and seven cruise missiles were launched in the assault, Al-Malki said, with three missiles failing to make their targets. He said the cruise missiles had a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles), meaning they could not have been fired from inside Yemen. “This is the kind of weapon the Iranian regime and the Iranian IRGC are using against the civilian object and facilities infrastructure,” Al-Malki said, using an acronym for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard...

US says time to build upon commitments made during Imran Khan’s visit

We are working closely with the Pakistanis on recovering hostages, said US

In the wake of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to the US, wherein he met President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the United States on Thursday said the time had come to expand on those responsibilities.

“We are focused on harmony in Afghanistan. We imagine that was a significant advance. Furthermore, there was various issues that were talked about in the President’s gathering as well as with the Secretary’s gathering too, and this is the ideal opportunity to expand upon that gathering and expand upon those responsibilities,” State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told columnists at a news meeting.

Depicting Khan’s gathering with Trump and Pompeo prior this week as an “underlying” one, she said this allowed to the president and the secretary to meet the Pakistani leader and fabricate an individual association and affinity.(Click Here for International News)

“Presently we think the time has come to gain ground on the accomplishment of this first gathering. I would note something that the head administrator said that he pledged to ask the Taliban to consult with the Afghan government,” Ortagus said. The US, she stated, was focused on the battle against fear based oppression.

“With regards to battling fear mongering, you have a secretary of state who has been focused on this his whole profession and that is something that he is continually going to raise with partners and companions and whomever gets together,” Ortagus said. The US, she stated, was working with Pakistan to get prisoners discharged…

Mike Pompeo promises better relations with India, but plays down trade spat

trade disputes have led to higher tariffs by the two countries and created unease over the depth of their security alliance

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tried to lessen elevated exchange pressure with India on Wednesday, promising a recharged spotlight on arranging better ties, yet giving couple of points of interest of how they would beat arguments about exchange and venture.

Pompeo’s India visit comes as the two nations ponder issues extending from access to Indian markets for American firms to New Delhi’s interest for outside organizations to store Indian information in the nation, and fares of steel and aluminum to the US The two countries are “companions who can help each other all around the globe,” Pompeo told a joint news meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar after they met.

The present contrasts were communicated “in the soul of kinship”, he included. Be that as it may, any advancement on exchange would most likely be declared at a normal gathering of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump at a  G20 summit in Japan this week, monetary and political examiners said. “If there is going to be some kind announcement on trade, it will come at a Trump-Modi meeting,” said Neelam Deo, founder of the Gateway House think tank in the financial capital of Mumbai.

Exchange SPAT

The exchange questions have prompted higher taxes by the two nations and made unease over the profundity of their security union. Specifically, the abrupt presentation of new web based business rules for remote financial specialists in February rankled the Americans since it demonstrated New Delhi was set up to move the goal lines to hurt two of the biggest US organizations, markdown retailer Walmart, and Amazon.com Inc.

Tariff hike is unacceptable, must be withdrawn: Donald Trump to India

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to reduce heightened trade tension with India on Wednesday

US President Donald Trump on Thursday asked India to withdraw retaliatory tariffs that New Delhi imposed this month, calling the duties “unacceptable”. India slapped higher tariffs on 28 US products following Washington’s withdrawal this month of key trade privileges for New Delhi.

“I look forward to speaking with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the fact that India, for years having put very high tariffs against the United States, just recently increased the tariffs even further,” Trump said on Twitter. “This is unacceptable and the tariffs must be withdrawn!” said Trump, who will meet Modi at this week’s G20 summit in Japan.

India’s trade ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment. Trump’s remarks could further worsen a trade row that has led to tit-for-tat tariffs from India and the United States and created an unease over the depth of their security alliance. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in New Delhi on Wednesday, sought to reduce heightened trade tension with India, promising a renewed focus on negotiating better ties, but giving few specifics of how they would overcome disputes over trade and investment.

Trump scrapped trade privileges for India under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), under which New Delhi was the biggest beneficiary that allowed duty-free exports of up to $5.6 billion. India initially issued an order in June last year to raise import taxes as high as 120% on a slew of U.S. items, incensed by Washington’s refusal to exempt it from higher steel and aluminium tariffs.

‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’, says Mike Pompeo ahead of crucial India visit

Pompeo listed out some of the “big ideas and big opportunities” that can take the bilateral relationship to a new level

Citing the popular election slogan “Modi hai to mumkin hai”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has sought to take the bilateral relationship with India to the next level and said the Trump and Modi Administrations have a “unique opportunity” to make it happen. “As Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi said in his latest campaign, ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai,’ or ‘Modi makes it possible’, I’m looking forward to exploring what’s possible between our people,” Pompeo said in his major India policy speech at the India Ideas Summit of US-India Business Council on Wednesday.

Very much looking forward to his trip to New Delhi later this month, and meeting Modi, and his new counterpart, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Mike Pompeo listed out some of the “big ideas and big opportunities” that can take the bilateral relationship to a new level. Giving a sneak preview of his India mission, he said he truly believes the two nations have a unique opportunity to move forward together for the good of their peoples, the Indo-Pacific region, and the world.

Pompeo will travel to India, Sri Lanka, Japan and South Korea from June 24 to 30. His four-nation is aimed at deepening US partnerships in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. Pompeo said under President Donald Trump, the US has taken defence cooperation to newer heights, solidified their common vision for the Indo-Pacific and taken a far tougher stand on Pakistan’s unacceptable support for terrorism.

Now the Trump and Modi Administrations have a “unique opportunity to take this special partnership even further”, Pompeo said he has a strong partner in his new counterpart, Jaishankar a former ambassador to the United States. “He said in a speech in April that he’s ready to cultivate warmer relations with America and the feeling is mutual. We want to move ahead,” he said and enumerated how that can be done.

Syria attack: France, UK back US military move; Trump takes u-turn; updates

Mike Pompeo said that 'a couple hundred Russians' were killed during US airstrikes on Syria

Seven US military aircraft have conducted reconnaissance missions near the coast of Syria, where Russia's Hmeymim airbase and Tartus naval base are located, Moscow's military flight monitoring centre tweeted on Friday. Six US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft departed from an airbase on the Italian island of Sicilia, and an EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance aircraft flew from the base on the Greek island of Crete, Xinhua news agency reported. The escalation of tension around Syria comes against the backdrop of reports on the latest chemical weapons use in Eastern Ghouta's Douma which killed 74 people including children.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday took a step back on comments he made about a possible attack on Syria, saying an attack could take place "very soon or not so soon at all". He has now also argued that he never signaled the timing of retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack, that he had suggested was imminent a day earlier. Trump's latest comment came in a tweet after warning Russia to "get ready" for a missile attack on its ally Syria. Despite that warning, Trump tweeted: "Never said when an attack on Syria would take place."

Worries about a confrontation between Russia, Syria's big ally, and the West have been running high since Trump said on Wednesday that missiles "will be coming" in response to the attack in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7, and lambasted Moscow for standing by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump on Wednesday had vowed to punish not only President Bashar al-Assad of Syria for the attack, but also Syria’s Russian and Iranian allies. A Russian official said that any American missiles fired at Syria would be shot down, and Trump responded in a tweet that Russia should “get ready” for missiles that would be “nice and new and ‘smart.’”

Syria, Russia and Iran have denied the use of chemical weapons, accusing the rebels and rescue workers of concocting the story to gain sympathy as their defeat loomed.

Top 10 developments on Syria attack, Donald Trump and Russia reaction

1. Trump says Syria attack 'very soon or not so soon at all': President Donald Trump said Thursday that a US missile strike on Syria may not be imminent. "Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our 'Thank you America?'" Trump said on Twitter.

Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018

2. US airstrikes in February killed ‘a couple hundred Russians’, says Mike Pompeo: CIA Director Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that “a couple hundred Russians” were killed during US airstrikes on Syria earlier this year. Pompeo was speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearing to become secretary of state when he revealed details about the February 7 attack on Russian mercenaries. Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “a couple hundred Russians were killed.”

3. UNSC must prevent Syria spiralling out of control, says UN: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to the five permanent members of the Security Council to break the current deadlock on reported use of chemical weapons in Syria and prevent the situation spiralling out of control in the war-torn country. "I have also been closely following developments in the Security Council and regret that the Council has so far been unable to reach agreement on this issue, Guterres said in a statement. "Let us not forget that, ultimately, our efforts must be about ending the terrible suffering of the Syrian people," he added. Guterres said that he called the ambassadors of the five permanent Council members China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States on Wednesday to reiterate his "deep concern about the risks of the current impasse" and stressed the need to "avoid the situation spiraling out of control."

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