China on Monday slammed the US for forcing the sale of TikTok to US companies after the short video app’s parent company Bytedance announced that it will not sell TikTok's US businesses to Oracle or Microsoft.

This Feb. 25, 2020, file photo, shows the icon for TikTok in New York. (Photo: AP)

“What happened to TikTok is an example of a forced sale by the US government,” said Wang Wenbin, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, at a regular press briefing. “While chanting for fairness and equity, and constructing the ‘clean network,’ some US politicians have suppressed non-US companies that pioneer in certain industries by abusing the concept of national security and abusing its state power.”

Wang said this exposes the pirate behavior of some US politicians, and the Chinese government will firmly support Chinese companies in upholding its legitimate rights and interests, and international trade rules.

“We urge the US to create an open, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment for foreign enterprises,” He said.