China on Thursday (September 3, 2020) said that India’s move to ban 118 more mobile applications violates the legal interests of the Chinese investors and service providers.
China’s Commerce Ministry Spokesman Gao Feng told a media briefing that Beijing is seriously concerned and resolutely opposes the ban on Chinese mobile Apps. The reaction from China came a day after the Narendra Modi government banned 118 more mobile apps with Chinese links, including popular gaming App PUBG, citing data privacy concerns and a threat to national security.
The 118 apps banned on Wednesday include Baidu, Baidu Express Edition, Alipay, Tencent Watchlist, FaceU, WeChat reading, Government WeChat, Tencent Weiyun, APUS Launcher Pro, APUS Security, Cut Cut, ShareSave by Xiaomi, and CamCard, besides PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite, according to an official government release.
With this, the total number of Chinese-linked mobile apps banned by India has risen to 224. “The Government blocks 118 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order,” a statement from the Electronics and IT Ministry said.
The move comes amid fresh border tensions with China in Ladakh. The statement cited numerous complaints received by the IT Ministry from various sources, including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data to servers outside India.
“The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures,” the government release said.