WeChat and Tiktok US ban - A Geopolitical decision.

Something that will affect the Chinese American community tomorrow is the WeChat ban, which I've been thinking about in recent days.

When I first heard about it, I kind of shrugged. While obviously inconvenient. China bans a lot of US tech apps, so why shouldn't the US ban a few Chinese ones? I've gotten used to this kind of tit-for-tat, and China doesn't have moral high ground to complain. However, after thinking about it some more, I felt that the US banning WeChat (and maybe TikTok) had bigger implications than China banning FB and Google.

China bans US apps that aren't willing to put up with Chinese censorship laws. But as far as I've read, TikTok and WeChat have not broken any US laws. They are being banned for vague "national security" concerns due to data privacy issues that are certainly rectifiable without an outright ban. It's pretty clear, to me at least, that this is a pure geopolitical decision.

Again, from a geopolitical perspective, this is fair since China bans a lot of US apps. The issue is that the US purports to hold itself to higher standards. WeChat and TikTok hasn't broken US laws because US laws favor a free and open internet. We lead the entire "free world" in criticizing China on a regular basis for its internet controls and its vague applications of "national security". With the banning of WeChat and TikTok, not due to breaking laws, but due also to vague "national security" concerns, it will force not just our own citizens, but other countries to re-evaluate America's position on free and open internet.

Does the US advocate for free internet as a matter of principle, or because US tech companies dominate the internet? If Chinese (or heck, German, or Indian, or Japanese, or Mexican) tech companies start dominating the internet, will the US still favor a free and open internet, or will it behave more like China does? If the US advocates for a free internet not due to principles but due to self interest, then should other countries follow the US's lead, or should they start to firewall their internet too? After all, a lot of countries have been concerned about US tech giants for a long time. And if on this issue the US proves itself to be a self-interested, rather than a principled, actor, how shall we, and the rest of the world, interpret US principles on a variety of other issues?

While I disagree with Trump on a lot of things and the WeChat ban has greatly inconvenienced me, I cannot say right off the bat that he is wrong to ban, or that the ban is unfair. However, it does have implications for how the world views America, and more importantly, how we define America ourselves. Is America a realpolitik actor behaving primarily on self-interest, using values and principles as a cover to placate foreign countries and domestic citizens? Or are we true believers who will follow ideals even when it may inconvenience us in the short term, secure in the strength and durability of our ideals in the long term? For Trump's segment of the country, that answer has been clear for some time. I wonder what the answer is for the rest of America, and how this will affect America's place in the 21st century.