DrUS President Donald Trump has banned eight Chinese apps. The outgoing incumbent signed the law on Wednesday evening. This step is expected to lead to more tension in US-China relations two weeks before the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden.

Affected apps include Ant Group’s Alipay Payment Service, QQ Wallet from Tencent Holdings, WeChat Pay, and Kingsoft Office Software WPS Office Software. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in turn, announced “necessary measures” to guarantee the legitimate rights of Chinese companies, but did not enter into more specific terms.

According to a senior U.S. government official, the ban is intended to reduce the risks to Americans who launch from these Chinese software applications. As justification, he drove their access to a large scale
User information and sensitive data.

The list speaks of “aggressive steps” to protect national security. Now it is the turn of the Commerce Department to determine which transactions will be specifically affected within 45 days
she. However, according to insiders, the division wants to become active early on.

So far, Biden, who will take office in Washington on January 20, has offered little insight into the details of his future policy toward China. It is possible that he will be able to cancel Trump’s list immediately. His team did not want to comment.