Trump Tables TikTok Deal

A rundown of the news making headlines in and around China:

TikTok deal delay: U.S. President Donald Trump signaled that a potential sale of TikTok will be kicked down the road, as it depends on China coming to the negotiating table. Trump made the comments during a press gaggle in the Oval Office Thursday. He also indicated that the tit-for-tat tariff war with Beijing may be over, saying that the 145% tariff on Chinese goods could dent consumer spending and “you want people to buy.” This is not the first time Trump has connected a TikTok deal with tariffs, having previously said that he would ease levies on Chinese goods if Beijing agreed to a proposed deal. The administration has ostensibly been working on a sale since the president signed an executive order on his first day in office delaying a ban of the short-video app. The Biden administration set the ban in motion, which was meant to come into effect on Jan. 19 if its Chinese owner ByteDance Ltd. did not sell TikTok’s U.S. operation to American buyers. Trump delayed the ban for 75 days.