China issues rebuke on TikTok deletion deadline

China on Tuesday urged the United States not to overstretch the concept of national security to suppress firms after Washington set a deadline for purging the TikTok app from federal devices.

"How unsure of itself can the world's top superpower be to fear a young people's favorite app like that?" Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Tuesday.

Her remarks came after the White House gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have TikTok on federal devices and systems.

"China firmly opposes the wrong practice by the US to generalize the concept of national security and abuse state power to suppress companies from other countries," Mao said at a daily news briefing.

Mao urged the US government to earnestly respect the principles of market economics and fair competition, and stop unreasonably suppressing companies.

The US government should provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for companies from all countries to invest and operate in the US, she added.