As it continues to ramp up its own diplomatic actions against China, the U.S. welcomed India’s ban on Chinese apps , as per U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“We welcome India’s ban on certain mobile apps that can serve as appendages of the CCP’s surveillance state,” Mr. Pompeo said at a briefing on Wednesday. “India’s Clean App approach will boost India’s sovereignty. It will also boost India’s integrity and national security, as the Indian Government itself has stated.”
The government had, earlier this week, banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat, on national security grounds, after 20 Indian soldiers died in bloody clashes with Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh last month.
The departments of State, Commerce and the U.S. Treasury, on Wednesday, also released a business advisory on the risks of supply chains with links to entities that could be engaging in human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang province. The U.S. advisory alleges that these risks include the development of surveillance tools for Xinjiang, reliance on forced labour, and aiding the building of internment camps for Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in China.
On the same day, the White House confirmed that it was “closely monitoring” the India-China situation, as was U.S. President Donald Trump, and supported a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
“ And he [Mr. Trump] said that China's aggressive stance along the India-China border fits with the larger pattern of Chinese aggression in other parts of the world. And these actions only confirm the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters.
