Donald Trump raises tensions with Beijing by issuing executive orders to BAN TikTok and WeChat in 45 days - amid warning Apple and Microsoft could be outlawed in retaliation as world markets fall

• Trump on Thursday signed an executive order giving a 45-day deadline for deal
• After that time, transactions with TikTok parent ByteDance will be forbidden
• Order also effectively bans TikTok in the US unless a sale is completed
• Microsoft is said to be considering acquiring TikTok's global operations
• Separate executive order bans Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat 
• Trump's orders are the latest escalation in growing US-China tensions on tech 
• Fears mount of 'Silicon Curtain' descending between the two countries
• Experts say Beijing could bar Apple or Microsoft from China as retribution

President Donald Trump has issued executive orders effectively banning Chinese video sharing app TikTok and messaging service WeChat in a dramatic escalation of tensions with Beijing that sent stocks tumbling worldwide overnight. 

Using national emergency powers, Trump on Thursday night signed the orders, which give TikTok parent ByteDance 45 days to sell the app, and bar WeChat from the U.S. after the same time period.

The orders also banned any U.S. transactions with WeChat owner Tencent, a major Chinese company that owns significant shares in Tesla, Snap Inc, and Reddit. Tencent shares fell as much as 10 percent in Asian markets overnight, and it was not immediately clear whether the company would be forced to divest its U.S. holdingsComing days after the United States ordered China to vacate its consulate in Houston, the move looks set to trigger retaliatory action by Beijing, stoking fears that a 'Silicon Curtain' is descending between the two superpowers. 

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President Donald Trump has issued an executive order giving the Chinese parent company of video sharing app TikTok 45 days to complete a sale (stock image)

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WeChat mascots are displayed inside Tencent office at TIT Creativity Industry Zone in Guangzhou, China in a file photo. Trump has banned the Chinese app from the US

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Trump's order raised the possibility that Beijing could retaliate by banning major U.S. tech companies from China, a major market for some of the top American firms Beijing slammed the move as "arbitrary political manipulation and suppression" and said it would come at the expense of American users and companies.

In a statement TikTok vowed to "pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure... our company and our users are treated fairly - if not by the Administration, then by the US courts."

 The move raised the  possibility that Beijing could retaliate by banning major U.S. tech companies from China, a major market for some of the top American firms. 

'China could block Apple or Microsoft from China. The information sector growingly looks divided into two camps. We could be seeing just the beginning of an information technology war,' said Nana Otsuki, chief analyst at Monex Securities.

'Investors in the West would have to hesitate to invest in China, missing growth opportunities there when there are not many investment opportunities except perhaps except for Nasdaq.'

Amid growing security and privacy concerns about the TikTok's Chinese ownership, Microsoft has reportedly been in talks to acquire TikTok in a firesale, and Trump's order only increases pressure on ByteDance to get the deal done quickly.

Any company still doing business with ByteDance in 45 days will be subject to sanctions, Trump said. If a sale does not go through before the September 20 deadline, the order would effectively bar the use of TikTok throughout the U.S.

In a separate executive order, Trump issued a similar ban on the Chinese-owned messaging service WeChat, accusing the app of funneling personal information to the Chinese Communist Party. 

WeChat owner Tencent owns Tencent Pictures, a Chinese film distributor and production company which has two major movies set for release in 2021 - Paramount's Top Gun: Maverick and Sony's Monster Hunter.

It has also been involved in producing blockbusters such as Wonder Woman and Terminator: Dark Fate. 

Tencent also has investments in gaming companies including a 40 percent investment in Fortnite maker Epic Games and five percent in Activision Blizzard which makes Call of Duty. It owns 100 percent of Riot Games which makes League of Legends.

WeChat owner Tencent owns Tencent Pictures, a Chinese film distributor and production company which has two major movies set for release in 2021 - Paramount's Top Gun: Maverick and Sony's Monster Hunter. WeChat logo is seen left and Tik Tok right

WHAT DOES MICROSOFT STAND TO GAIN FROM BUYING THE US ARM OF TIKTOK?

TikTok's catchy videos and ease of use has made it popular, and it says it has tens of millions of users in the U.S. and hundreds of millions globally. 

Its parent company, ByteDance acquired Shanghai-based video app Musical.ly in a $1 billion deal in 2017 and relaunched it as TikTok the following year. 

In its statement, $1.5 trillion company Microsoft said it may invite other American investors to participate on a minority basis in the purchase of TikTok. Financial terms were undisclosed.

ByteDance was valued at as much as $140 billion earlier this year.  

Any deal with Microsoft to buy TikTok could be worth billions of dollars. It could also expose the company, which already owns Xbox, LinkedIn and Skype, to tech savvy teens.

Trump's executive order claims that TikTok 'may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the Chinese Communist Party,' and specifically cites TikTok videos that 'spread debunked conspiracy theories about the origins of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus'.

The order states that Tik Tok has reportedly been downloaded over 175 million times in the United States and over one billion times globally. 

The order also states 'TikTok also reportedly censors content that the Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive, such as content concerning protests in Hong Kong and China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.'

'The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security,' it adds. 

Along with the executive order, Trump sent a letter to the House speaker and Senate president explaining the move.

The letter states that TikTok 'automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users'.

'This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans' personal and proprietary information - potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage,' it continued. 

ByteDance has denied that it shares data with the Chinese government, and Chinese state media blasted the U.S. response to TikTok as 'madness'.

Under a Chinese law introduced in 2017, companies there have an obligation to support and cooperate with the country's national intelligence work. 

World stock markets tumbled early Friday after the executive order was signed. 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 1.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.4%. 

Mainland China's CSI 300 Index fell 1.3% while Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.6%. S&P500 futures slid 0.5%. 

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to approve a bill banning federal employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices.

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attends the completion and commissioning ceremony for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) in Beijing, July 31

'I'm encouraged by the bipartisan support we have seen in this body to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable and that includes ... holding accountable those corporations who would just do China's bidding,' Senator Josh Hawley, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement.

'And, if I have anything to say about it, we won't be stopping here,' the Republican senator added.

Last month, the House of Representatives voted to bar federal employees from downloading the app on government-issued devices as part of a proposal offered by Representative Ken Buck.

A finalized version of the bill, combining the House and Senate versions, would need Trump's approval to become law.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has expanded its talks on TikTok to a potential deal that would include buying the global operations of the fast-growing video-sharing app, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

Microsoft declined to comment on the report, after previously disclosing it was considering a deal for TikTok operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

According to the report, Microsoft has shifted its view because of the complexities of splitting the app and making it operable globally.

TikTok operates in 150 countries. 

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Chinese state media accused Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of 'madness' for cracking down on Chinese software and technology in the US

Tencent's major US investments 

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order banning U.S. transactions involving Chinese social media and video game leader Tencent Holdings, owner of messaging app WeChat, on national security grounds.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is set to identify transactions covered by the order, which starts in 45 days.

Below is a list of some of Tencent's biggest U.S. and international investments:

Tesla Inc: Tencent bought 5% of the electric vehicle maker for $1.78 billion in 2017. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has called Tencent "an investor and adviser to Tesla".

Riot Games: Tencent bought a majority stake in the Los Angeles-based "League of Legends" game developer in 2011 and made it fully owned in 2015.

Activision Blizzard Inc: Tencent has a minority stake in the owner of the "Call of Duty" franchise. Tencent last year launched "Call of Duty Mobile" and has seen 45 million downloads in the United States, Tower Sensor data showed.

Epic Games: Tencent acquired a minority stake in 2012.

Snap Inc: Tencent bought 12% of the messaging app operator in 2017.

Reddit Inc: The social media platform raised $300 million in 2019 in a funding round led by Tencent resulting in a market valuation of $3 billion.

Spotify Technology SA: The Swedish music streaming firm and Tencent Music Entertainment Group bought minority stakes in each other ahead of the former's 2018 stock market listing in New York.

Universal Music Group: French media conglomerate Vivendi SA in 2019 said it had finalised the sale of 10% of the world's largest music label to a Tencent-led consortium, which also had the option to buy up to 10% more by January 2021 on the same price basis. The deal gave Tencent more access to U.S. artists such as Taylor Swift and Kanye West.

WHAT DOES MICROSOFT STAND TO GAIN FROM BUYING THE US ARM OF TIKTOK?

TikTok's catchy videos and ease of use has made it popular, and it says it has tens of millions of users in the U.S. and hundreds of millions globally. 

Its parent company, ByteDance acquired Shanghai-based video app Musical.ly in a $1 billion deal in 2017 and relaunched it as TikTok the following year. 

In its statement, $1.5 trillion company Microsoft said it may invite other American investors to participate on a minority basis in the purchase of TikTok. Financial terms were undisclosed.

ByteDance was valued at as much as $140 billion earlier this year.  

Any deal with Microsoft to buy TikTok could be worth billions of dollars. It could also expose the company, which already owns Xbox, LinkedIn and Skype, to tech savvy teens.