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The video-sharing app TikTok has denied the allegations that it is controlled by the Chinese government.
Theo Bertram, TikTok’s head of public policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said he would reject any request from China to release data.
“The suggestion that we are somehow under the control of the Chinese government is completely false,” he told the BBC.
TikTok has been pressured by Washington about its future in the United States.
Its owner, ByteDance, based in Beijing but residing in the Cayman Islands, has had discussions with the UK government to establish its headquarters in London.
But the United States is considering banning the TikTok, and can only allow it to continue operating if it separates from China and becomes an American company.
‘Committed’ to UK growth
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is visiting the United Kingdom this week, alleged that TikTok users in the United States are at risk of their data ending up “in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Bertram told the BBC Today program that TikTok had not made a decision on where to locate its international headquarters, but added: “We are committed to continuing to grow in the UK.”
He added that if the Chinese government approached TikTok, “we would definitely say no to any request for data.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of International Trade said: “ByteDance’s decision on the location of its global headquarters is a business decision for the company.”
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Bertram also denied the allegations that TikTok was lenient with pedophiles caught preparing children through his app.
The Daily Telegraph said it had seen leaked documents showing users found that sending messages to children in a sexual way had to commit three crimes before incurring a permanent ban.
But Bertram said that TikTok had changed its policy more than a year ago and that it had “zero tolerance” for such behavior.
Any such posts would be removed and the author would report, he said.
The latest development comes as tensions rise between the UK and China over the government’s recent decision to order the removal of Huawei 5G equipment from Britain’s mobile networks by 2027.
There are fears that it could spark an eye-for-an-eye economic war between the two countries.
Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming told the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: “We are still evaluating the consequences. This is a very bad decision.”
TikTok employs around 1,000 people in Europe, most of whom are in the UK and Ireland.
The Sunday Times reported that TikTok’s decision to build its UK headquarters has the potential to create 3,000 jobs.
The Chinese video-sharing platform is very popular, and the app has been downloaded two billion times.
India has already blocked TikTok and other Chinese apps. Australia, which has already banned Huawei and telecom equipment maker ZTE, is also considering banning TikTok.
