Isolating China won't boost US security

The White House's orders on Thursday banning transactions with ByteDance and Tencent, the owners of TikTok and WeChat respectively, on the pretext that the two apps "threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States" is part of the administration's "Clean Network to Safeguard America's Assets" program to ban a whole range of Chinese apps.

That the White House is concerned about the impact of Chinese apps on American society is understandable. For instance, the rising popularity of TikTok has been phenomenal because it helps subscribers to watch massive numbers of short, amusing videos as well as socialize with other users. TikTok is very popular in the US, and therefore a competitor to YouTube, which dominates the US market.

Similarly, WeChat is providing comprehensive social media service for its users, and is probably more advanced than US apps such as WhatsApp.