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GUWAHATI: China has voiced strong objection to India’s decision to ban an additional 118 Chinese apps, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a briefing on Thursday.
India on Wednesday banned 118 Chinese mobile apps, including PUBG, amid the showdown with China on the Royal Line of Control.
“Mobile applications harmful to India’s sovereignty, integrity, defense and public order are prohibited,” the information technology ministry’s notice read, adding that it has received several complaints of misuse of these applications to steal and transmitting user data in an unauthorized manner to servers located outside of India. Previously, India had banned 59 Chinese apps, including popular TikTok and WeChat.
A local Chinese newspaper reported that Gao in his briefing accused India of abusing “national security” by imposing discriminatory restrictions on Chinese companies and that India’s action violates relevant WTO rules.
“India’s action not only damages the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese investors and service providers, but also damages the interests of Indian consumers while also damaging India’s investment climate as an open economy,” Gao said according to the news agency.
“China-India trade and economic cooperation brings mutual benefits,” Gao said.
He added: “We hope that the Indian side will work with the Chinese side to maintain the hard-won bilateral development and cooperation in order to build an open and fair trading environment for international investors and service providers, including Chinese companies.
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