The bill, unveiled Thursday, states that companies that own or control the App Store “shall not carry or support any app in the App Store(s) within the United States that supports or enables transactions in e-CNY”. makes.”
The bill, unveiled Thursday, states that companies that own or control the App Store “shall not carry or support any app in the App Store(s) within the United States that supports or enables transactions in e-CNY”. makes.”
Republican senators want to block US App Stores including Apple and Google from hosting apps that allow paid Chinese digital currencyAmid fears that the payment system could allow Beijing to spy on Americans.
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The bill, unveiled on Thursday and first reported by Reuters, states that companies that own or control the App Store “will not take over or endorse any app in the App Store(s) within the United States”. which supports or enables transactions in e-CNY.” It is sponsored by Senators Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio and Mike Braun.
According to Cotton’s office, the digital yuan could provide the Chinese government with “real-time visibility into all transactions on the network, posing privacy and security concerns for US individuals joining this network.”
The Washington, DC-based think tank Center for a New American Security said in a January 2021 report that Chinese digital currency And the electronic payment system “is likely to be a boon to CCP surveillance in the economy and government intervention in the lives of Chinese citizens,” noting that “transactions will contain accurate data about users and their financial activity.”
The move comes after WeChat, the messaging and payments application owned by China’s Tencent with more than 1.2 billion users, announced it would start supporting the currency earlier this year. Alipay is also the hugely popular payment app owned by Jack Ma’s Ant Group. accepts digital currency, Both apps are available in the Apple and Google App Stores.
Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google, Ant Group and Tencent did not respond to requests for comment.
The Chinese embassy in Washington called the law “another example of the United States intimidating foreign companies by abusing state power on unsustainable grounds of national security.”
While barring potential national security threats related to China is a rare point of bipartisan agreement in the US Congress, the bill’s prospects for passage ahead of the midterm election remain uncertain.