A Chinese Communist Party insider has slammed Australia’s decision to ban TikTok from all government devices over national security fears as ‘racism’.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued the directive after a Home Affairs department review into the risks posed by the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
Australia’s ban follows similar moves by the US, Canada and several European countries, who also declared TikTok a security threat.
But Victor Gao, a former diplomat who is close to the Communist regime, said ‘Falsified and inflated national security concerns should be avoided. And probably it’s racism.’
Speaking on 60 Minutes, Mr Gao said the ban would enrage China and inflame tensions between the countries.
A Chinese Communist Party insider has slammed Australia’s decision to ban TikTok (pictured) from all government devices over national security fears as ‘racism’
‘Australians need to be really confident about their own system, rather than being threatened by TikTok. Banning it is not a sign of strength,’ he said.
‘It’s not a sign of superiority, it’s not a sign of confidence. It’s just the opposite.’
Federal Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus, said the ban ‘will come into effect as soon as practicable’.
State and territory governments are expected to follow through with similar bans, which will apply to mobile phones and other devices issued by the government to politicians and public servants.
But Mr Gao said security fears are not the reason behind the ban.
‘Probably it’s racism, probably it’s racial discrimination, probably it’s banning Chinese again, which was a disaster many years ago,’ he said.
‘Now you want to do that again? It will not be a success.’
He also warned that Australia needs to be careful to protect its relationship with China.
‘I would urge the Australian government to really treat China as an equal, because you do not want to have an enemy with 1.4billion people,’ he said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) has issued a directive to ban TikTok from all Australian government devices
Victor Gao (pictured), a Communist regime mouthpiece and former diplomat, said ‘Falsified and inflated national security concerns should be avoided’
Concerns over TikTok relate to the potential for data to be harvested and accessed by the Chinese government under national laws that can compel companies to hand over information.
ByteDance, which owns the social media app, denied its user data can be supplied to Beijing and said TikTok posed no risk to Australians.
‘We are extremely disappointed by this decision which, in our view, is driven by politics, not fact,’ Lee Hunter, general manager of TikTok in Australia and New Zealand said after the ban was announced.
‘We are also disappointed that TikTok, and the millions of Australians who use it, were left to learn of this decision through the media, despite our repeated offers to engage with government constructively about this policy.
‘Again … there is no evidence to suggest that TikTok is in any way a security risk to Australians and should not be treated differently to other social media platforms.’
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher took a very different view of the matter, saying ‘This has been informed by security agencies’ advice on work that’s been done and provided to the government’.
Australia’s ban follows similar moves by the US, Canada and several European countries, who also declared TikTok (app pictured) a security threat
The US government is reportedly considering going even further by enforcing a nationwide ban on TikTok, not just from government devices.
Australia’s move to ban the app on government devices comes after more than three years of bitter hostilities with China.
Tensions flared in 2020 during the Covid pandemic when the Morrison government called for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, which originated in Wuhan.
Beijing reacted with fury to the calls for transparency and slapped Australia with about $20billion in arbitrary trade bans and tariffs for key exports such as coal, beef, cotton, wine, barley, timber and lobsters.
Chinese officials also released an extraordinary list of 14 grievances the authoritarian state had with Australia – ranging from ‘racist attacks against Asian people’ to siding with the ‘United States’ anti-China campaign’ and criticisms against Beijing from Australian media.
Chinese president Xi Jinping (pictured) pledged his country would strengthen its military in response to the AUKUS plan
It was reported in February that Beijing was preparing to wind back sanctions on beef, timber and other exports.
But the welcome news came just before Mr Albanese announced the $368billion AUKUS nuclear submarine deal alongside US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
China warned that the US, UK and Australia were treading on a ‘path of error and danger’ that will result in ‘years of confrontation’.
Chinese president Xi Jinping pledged his country would strengthen its military in response to the AUKUS plan.
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