简体中文
The logo of Tencent is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services, September 6, 2020, Beijing. /VCG
WeChat developer Tencent on Sunday said the application may not be able to gain new users in the U.S. due to the Trump administration's ban, but the company will continue to negotiate for a long-term solution.
"The company has been and will continue to negotiate with the U.S. government and other U.S. stakeholders to reach a long-term solution," the statement said.
The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Friday that it will ban WeChat from U.S. app stores and will bar the app from accessing essential internet services in the U.S., citing "national security" concerns.
The order follows President Donald Trump's executive orders signed in August, giving U.S. businesses 45 days to stop working with the Chinese company, with Sunday (September 20) as the deadline.
The screenshot of Tencent's statement
"After the prohibition takes effect, users of the existing WeChat app in the United States may continue to use WeChat to communicate," according to Tencent's statement, "but the WeChat application may not be able to acquire new users in the U.S., and the continuous updating of the WeChat application for current users in the U.S. may also be negatively affected."
The Chinese tech giant stated that it is further evaluating the impact of prohibited transaction identification on the company.
"As an application serving users worldwide, WeChat has always complied with local laws and regulations. Its data policies and procedures meet the strictest privacy standards in the world," Tencent said in a statement previously.
WeChat is an all-in-one mobile app that combines services similar to Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram as well as Venmo and is essential to the daily lives of many in China, boasting more than one billion users.
According to analytics firms Apptopia, in early August, WeChat was popular among Chinese students, ex-pats and some Americans who have personal or business relationships in China, with an average of 19 million daily active users in the United States.
Tencent: U.S. ban 'unfortunate,' will keep looking for solution
