China's Global Times casts doubt on TikTok deal

A Chinese state-backed newspaper says a deal for the video sharing app TikTok is unlikely to get approval from Beijing.

An (September 22) editorial published late Monday in the Global Times says the terms of an agreement with Oracle and Walmart over TikTok's future "extensively show Washington's bullying style and hooligan logic."

It comes after Oracle and TikTok's parent ByteDance announced they had reached a deal over the weekend, that would satisfy U.S President Donald Trump's call for the app to be sold to an American buyer or face shutdown in the U.S.

The editorial's unidentified writer also said the deal terms "hurt China's national security, interests and dignity."

And they objected to four of the five board seats of TikTok Global being occupied by Americans.

Trump gave his public blessing to the deal on Saturday and on Monday, said the deal was still being hammered out:

"And so, if we can save it, we'll save it. And if we can't we'll cut it off. But they have preliminary - we'll see what they can do. We have to have total security. That's the only thing. Very important. We have to have total security."

Back in mid August Donald Trump gave ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok, citing security concerns about the safety of data of its 100 million American users in the hands of Chinese company.

While ByteDance and Oracle have struck a deal, both sides have framed the agreement differently.

ByteDance has said the newly-created TikTok Global will be its subsidiary of which it will own 80 percent whereas Oracle has said ByteDance's ownership would instead be distributed to the company's investors, many of which are U.S.-based.

Oracle has also said that the Beijing-based firm itself would have no stake in TikTok Global.