China accuses US of using 'digital gunboat diplomacy' over TikTok

China on Monday slammed Washington for using “digital gunboat diplomacy” after US President Donald Trump ordered TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell its interest in the Musical.ly app it bought and merged with TikTok.
 

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Monday said “freedom and security are merely excuses for some US politicians to pursue digital gunboat diplomacy” — referring to vessels used by Western imperial powers during the 19th century, which China considers a deeply humiliating period in its history.