FirstFT: China scolds US push to ban TikTok as Steven Mnuchin plots takeover

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Good morning. Beijing has rebuked US legislation to ban TikTok as former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was putting together an investor group to buy the app from its Chinese owner.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said yesterday that the US had shown a “robber’s logic” towards the app, which has 170mn users in America. “When you see other people’s good things, you must find ways to own them,” Wang said.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill that would force TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the app to a non-Chinese company within six months or be banned from US app stores. It still needs Senate approval and President Joe Biden’s signature.

Mnuchin told CNBC yesterday that he was assembling a consortium to attempt to take over the short-video app, which he said “should be owned by a US business.”

Here’s more on the debate over banning TikTok — which US security officials have said poses a national security risk — plus our coverage on what comes next:

• Explainer: How would a TikTok ban work? Is the social media platform really a national security risk? The FT’s Tabby Kinder has the answers.

• Opinion: There’s a big lesson for investors in the uncertainty around TikTok, writes Gillian Tett — most notably that it reveals a paradox now haunting markets.

And here’s what I’m keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:

• Economic data: The US reports February industrial production figures, while France, Italy and Poland publish inflation rate data for last month.

• Russia’s sham election: Vladimir Putin is expected to cruise to victory in elections this weekend that will extend his 24-year rule until at least 2030.

• Australia: Queensland holds local elections on Saturday. The state’s electoral commission has warned candidates in one mayoral race to behave amid reports of a “toxic” campaign. (The Guardian)

One more thing: The FT and its research partner, Statista, are launching a new project to identify the best companies to work for around the world. Nominate a company for ‘Best Employer’ in the Asia-Pacific region in this simple online form (2 minutes to complete). There’s more information here.

Five more top stories

1. The US-Israel relationship erupted yesterday after America’s most prominent Jewish politician called for Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government to be replaced. Senate leader Chuck Schumer, a close ally of President Joe Biden, accused the Israeli prime minister of weakening his country’s “political and moral fabric” and being an “obstacle to peace”.

2. Joe Biden has declared his opposition to Nippon Steel’s proposed $14.9bn purchase of US Steel. The US president characterised his decision as an effort to side with American workers, at a time when he is under pressure in his re-election campaign to retain the blue-collar vote. But the declaration risks damaging Washington’s relationship with close ally Japan.

• More US news: Donald Trump’s “hush money” criminal trial is likely to be postponed by up to a month, after Manhattan prosecutors agreed to allow Donald Trump more time to review newly obtained documents.

3. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries will buy out Paramount Global’s stake in its Indian TV business for more than $500mn. The move comes just two weeks after Disney agreed to merge its Indian business with Reliance in an $8.5bn deal, tightening Ambani’s hold over the country’s fast-growing media market.

4. SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket reached orbit on its third attempt yesterday but was lost on its return to Earth. This is the third loss of a Starship — the world’s most powerful rocket — in less than 12 months after the previous two test flights ended in explosions. But the test mission passed several critical milestones.

5. More companies have defaulted on their debt in 2024 than in any start to the year since the global financial crisis as inflationary pressures and high interest rates continue to weigh on the world’s riskiest borrowers, according to S&P Global Ratings. Here’s this year’s tally of global corporate defaults.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

The Big Read

Before the war, there were more than 800 schools in Gaza and 17 higher education institutions, including six universities. Many have since been damaged or completely destroyed, decimating the enclave’s education system. For Gaza’s disproportionately young population — about 65 per cent are 24 or younger — returning to their lessons will be one of the biggest challenges, with academics warning of a possible brain drain.

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Chart of the day

As Chinese consumers rapidly switch to electric vehicles, analysts forecast hundreds of zombie car factories that once produced internal combustion engines.

Take a break from the news

You won’t want to miss this one: a quarter of a century after their relationship ended, food writer Tim Hayward takes his ex-wife to dinner. But where did our resident glutton take his clean-living Californian ex-wife to dine?

Additional contributions from Gary Jones and Gordon Smith