Friday’s Yomiuri wrote that Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth Krach reportedly told a group of Japanese journalists on Wednesday that the United States government is making arrangements to call on other nations to ban Chinese social media apps. The paper speculated that since the U.S. government is considering banning the use of TikTok, Japan may be urged to take action on the matter. The paper wrote that in view of Washington’s call on other nations to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks out of concern that the Chinese government could steal secrets through Huawei products, Under Secretary Krach reportedly said that the United States will expand such initiatives beyond 5G to include social media apps to highlight China’s lack of transparency. The paper noted that Secretary of State Pompeo reportedly stated during an interview in early July that the Trump administration will deal appropriately with TikTok in the same manner as Huawei because personal information could fall in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

The paper also wrote that Under Secretary Krach reportedly said that the Indian government’s announcement in late June that it was banning the use of TikTok was “big.’’ The paper added that when asked whether the United States will ask Japan and other allies to take similar measures if Washington decides to ban TikTok, the Under Secretary reportedly said that the United States respects Japan’s sovereignty, while adding that the United States is hoping to achieve the ban to deepen its unity and cooperation with its allies. The paper interpreted this remark to mean that Under Secretary Krach expressed Washington’s expectation for Japan to act in concert with the United States.