China denies pressure on companies to collect data

China has denied pressure on companies to collect information abroad on behalf of the government, and has rejected American lawmakers' claims about the viral video app TikTok, which is at the center of an escalating dispute between Washington and Beijing over politics, technology and economics.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, said that China will not ask companies or individuals to collect data in foreign countries in a way that is in violation of the country's laws.

The denial came after a heated five-hour congressional hearing in which U.S. lawmakers grilled TikTok's chief executive, Shou Chew, over the app's relationship with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, as well as its possible use as a surveillance tool by the Chinese government.

China's reaction to the hearing highlighted how TikTok, which has roughly 150 million users in the United States, has become a flashpoint in the geopolitical tussle between the world's two largest economies. Hours before Mr. Chew's hearing on Thursday, China s Ministry of Commerce said it would oppose a forced sale of the app, a rebuke to the Biden administration, which recently called for the app's Chinese owners to sell it or face a possible ban in the United States.