State media hints at no deal for TikTok

Beijing is unlikely to approve an "unfair" deal Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc said they have struck with ByteDance over the future of video-streaming app TikTok, state-backed newspaper Global Times said in an editorial, Reuters reports.

The U.S. majors have said they will buy into a new mainly U.S.-owned company, TikTok Global, with a board of directors comprised mainly of Americans. In contrast, ByteDance has said TikTok Global will be its U.S. subsidiary with 80 percent ownership.

"It is clear that these articles [terms] extensively show Washington's bullying style and hooligan logic. They hurt China's national security, interests and dignity," said the English version of the editorial published late on Monday and which was also carried in the newspaper's Chinese edition.

"From the information provided by the U.S., the deal was unfair. It caters to the unreasonable demands of Washington.

It's hard for us to believe that Beijing will approve such an agreement," the editorial read, echoing tweets the same evening by the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Hu Xijin.