Several U.K. government departments have used TikTok accounts as part of their public campaigns, including the country’s Ministry of Defense, a day after Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said the app was critical for the U.K. It is safe for humans to use.
“As far as the general public is concerned, this is absolutely a personal choice, but because we have the strongest data protection laws in the world, we are confident that the public can continue to use it,” she told lawmakers in parliament.
China featured prominently in the latest security assessment released by the government, although Sunak’s tough rhetoric failed to please all the hawks in his Conservative Party, including one of its former leaders, Iain Duncan Smith. Duncan Smith).
Mr Duncan Smith, who questioned whether the UK government formally viewed China as a threat, on Thursday called for the ban to be extended to private devices belonging to government officials while praising the action against TikTok.
It follows a diplomatic standoff between London and Beijing after violent clashes at the Chinese consulate in the northern British city of Manchester led to China’s decision in December to withdraw six diplomats from the UK.
British authorities have asked six Chinese diplomats to waive official immunity to allow police to investigate how a Hong Kong protester was injured after he was dragged to the consulate grounds and beaten on October 16.
Instead, China decided to repatriate six officials, including a senior diplomat, Consul General Zheng Xiyuan, who denied beating the protesters but not his involvement in the incident.
adam satariano Contribution report.
