‘Happy to provide additional basic facts to you or your staff that I learned in elementary school. Ask anytime,’ California Democrat tells Tom Cotton

Tom Cotton is facing widespread criticism after he asked Singaporean TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew if had “ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party”.

The Arkansas Republican senator pursued the much-ridiculed line of questioning during a Senate hearing on child safety on social media on Wednesday, which was attended by a number of big tech CEOs such as Mr Chew.

“You said today, as you often say, that you live in Singapore – of what nation are you a citizen?” Mr Cotton asked.

“Singapore,” the CEO responded.

“Have you ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party?” Mr Cotton then asked.

“Senator, I’m Singaporean – no,” Mr Chew responded.

Unable to let the matter go, Mr Cotton asked: “Have you ever been associated or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party?”

“No, senator, again, I’m Singaporean,” the tech CEO said.

  • bustrpoindextr@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    “oh yeah Singapore, I get that Singapore Mei fun at the Chinese restaurant all the time, what part of China is Singapore again?”

    • Justin@lemmy.jlh.name
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      10 months ago

      I mean I guess people confuse chinese culture with the People’s Republic of China? Kind of works in the CCP’s favor honestly, because dumb Americans give the PRC ownership of everything chinese, like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

  • DontMakeMoreBabies@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    That’s a terrible question but people should be very leery of TikTok or frankly anything tech that has a significant Chinese share. You cannot realistically separate Chinese businesses from the Chinese government.

    They are good at supply chain espionage and not above using something like an app for PsyOp campaigns.

    Edit: Just to get ahead of any ‘But the US…’ Where are the Uyghur prison camps again?

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      You cannot realistically separate Chinese businesses from the Chinese government.

      You cannot realistically separate US businesses from the US government either, but in the US it’s the businesses that are in control.