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BEIJING: China on Thursday (September 3) condemned a new ban by India of dozens of Chinese apps, including the hit game PUBG, as a bitter border showdown leaked into the tech sphere.
Internet giant Tencent is among the Chinese makers of 118 more apps that will be the subject of the latest Indian ban, which follows a territorial dispute along a disputed Himalayan border.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand combat during a battle in June.
India has fought back by withdrawing dozens of Chinese apps from its huge domestic market, including the video-sharing platform TikTok.
The latest salvo, announced on Wednesday in the hit shooter PUBG, has enraged Chinese authorities and dismayed Indian gamers.
“India has abused the concept of national security and adopted discriminatory restrictive measures against Chinese companies,” Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at an online press conference on Thursday.
China strongly opposes the move, he said, urging India to “correct its wrong practices.”
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Beijing also hinted that India had imposed the ban under pressure from the United States, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned on Thursday against “myopic” involvement in US restrictions on Chinese technology.
Indian authorities say they are moving against the proliferation of Chinese technology because it promotes activities “detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the defense of India, state security and public order.”
China has also suffered casualties on the great Himayalan battlefield, but has not released figures as tensions have risen in recent months.
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India has increasingly wielded economic weapons against its neighbor in their dispute, freezing Chinese companies from their contracts, including their 5G mobile phone infrastructure, in addition to app bans.
New Delhi warned that relations risk permanent damage unless Beijing withdraws its troops to the positions they held before May.
