Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a U.S.-China TikTok agreement, indirect parliamentary elections in Syria, and the reformist makeup of Nepal’s interim cabinet.
From ByteDance to …
The United States and China reached a “framework” deal on the fate of popular social media app TikTok during the second day of trade talks in Madrid on Monday. Such a deal would end a yearslong saga in tech competition between the world’s two largest economies and could pave the way for a future meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, TikTok will switch from being owned by Chinese company ByteDance to being owned by a U.S. company. It is unclear which company will take control or whether ByteDance will also transfer control of the app’s underlying technology, but Bessent said the deal will preserve cultural aspects of the app, an issue that Chinese negotiators had been concerned about.
“They’re interested in Chinese characteristics of the app, which they think are soft power. We don’t care about Chinese characteristics. We care about national security,” Bessent told reporters in Madrid.
Trump implied on Truth Social on Monday that confirmation of the deal will come during a phone call with Xi on Friday. The U.S.-China “relationship remains a very strong one!!!” Trump wrote. Chinese trade representative Li Chenggang also praised the “candid, in-depth” conversation.
Last year, the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring TikTok’s divestiture over fears that the app’s user data could be accessed by the Chinese government, allowing Beijing to monitor Americans’ activity and conduct influence operations. Yet after coming into office in January—and despite having been the impetus for the ban in the first place during his first term—Trump instructed his Justice Department to suspend enforcement of the ban, a choice that he has repeatedly extended.
Four rounds of talks and several 90-day extensions later, the White House is closer to addressing Congress’s concerns than ever before; however, the framework deal still requires congressional approval, and the latest extension is set to expire on Wednesday. Bessent said the deadline could be extended another 90 days to allow the agreement to be finalized. (Trump and his White House, meanwhile, have joined the app themselves even as negotiations have dragged on.)
“It’s no secret that there are serious issues on trade, economics, and national security between the United States and China,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said. “To be able to come, sit down, quickly identify the issues, narrow them down to a very granular spot, and be able to come to a conclusion, subject to the leaders’ approval, I mean, that is remarkable.”
Greer added that issues surrounding Chinese export controls on critical minerals and magnets were also discussed during the two days of trade talks, and that they would be the focus of a possible upcoming Trump-Xi meeting. This could occur as soon as next month, when South Korea hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, though Trump has also suggested that he would invite Xi for a summit in the near future.
However, the talks did not address all trade concerns. In a separate announcement, Beijing accused U.S. chip manufacturer Nvidia of violating anti-monopoly laws when it purchased Mellanox Technologies, a network and data transmission company, for $6.9 billion in 2020. A Nvidia spokesperson told Foreign Policy that “we comply with the law in all respects.”
Bessent said he had discussed the “poor timing” of the allegations, even as China vowed to step up scrutiny of the world’s leading chipmaker. But some experts contend that Beijing’s latest threat is just another point of posturing, having issued similar threats in the past, including by banning some Micron products in May 2023 over alleged cybersecurity risks to critical infrastructure.
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The World This Week
Tuesday, Sept. 16: Polish President Karol Nawrocki visits Germany before heading to France.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb begins a two-day state visit to Latvia.
Malawi holds a general election.
Thursday, Sept. 18: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to convene his security cabinet.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney begins a two-day visit to Mexico.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hosts German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Madrid.
Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa begins a four-day visit to Japan.
Sunday, Sept. 21: Guinea holds a constitutional referendum.
Monday, Sept. 22: World leaders convene a meeting about the two-state solution on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
What We’re Following
Historic elections. Syria was expected to kick off indirect parliamentary elections on Monday—the first such vote since the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad in December. However, the vote appeared to be delayed on Monday due to logistical concerns. According to the country’s electoral commission, it will be completed by the end of this month.
Over the course of several days, regional electoral committees made up of local representatives will choose 140 of parliament’s 210 seats, with the remaining 70 lawmakers selected by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Due to “security concerns,” elections will not include the Druze-dominated Suwayda governorate nor the northern al-Hasakah and Raqqa governorates, both of which are controlled by Kurdish factions. Instead, these areas’ allocated seats will remain empty “until it’s possible to hold elections there,” according to an electoral committee spokesperson. The Druze and Kurdish minority groups have engaged in violent clashes with government forces in recent months in their bid for independence from Syria.
In March, Sharaa signed into law a temporary constitution that established a five-year political transition period. This also created a framework for an interim parliament until the adoption of a permanent constitution and general elections, which Sharaa has said could take around four years to hold.
A reformist cabinet. Interim Nepalese Prime Minister Sushila Karki chose three reformists with anti-graft credentials on Monday to fill key cabinet posts. Former Finance Minister Rameshwor Prasad Khanal, who has recommended several economic reforms, will take over the Finance Ministry; former state power utility chief Kulman Ghising, an initial contender to become premier, will be made energy minister; and human rights lawyer Om Prakash Aryal, who advises Kathmandu’s mayor—the latter being a popular figure among members of Generation Z—will become home minister.
Karki, Nepal’s first female chief justice, was sworn in as interim prime minister on Friday after deadly anti-government protests dissolved parliament and forced Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign. With at least 72 people killed and more than 2,100 others injured during the demonstrations, last week’s protests were the country’s worst period of unrest in Nepal’s modern history.
Nepal is expected to hold new elections on March 5. “We are not here to take the taste of power or high position,” Karki said. “People from the streets and everywhere said, ‘Give responsibility to Sushila,’ so I was compelled.”
“Inflammatory language.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned billionaire Elon Musk on Monday for telling a far-right, anti-immigrant rally in London that violence is coming to the United Kingdom. Speaking through a video link, Musk called for the dissolution of Parliament and early elections to remove Starmer’s center-left government from power. “You either fight back, or you die,” Musk said.
Starmer’s office denounced the comments and signaled the importance of peaceful protest. Saturday’s “Unite the Kingdom” march saw 26 police officers injured when a faction of the demonstration tried to clash with nearby counterprotesters. “The U.K. is a fair, tolerant, and decent country, so the last thing that British people want is dangerous and inflammatory language, which threatens violence and intimidation on our streets,” Starmer’s spokesperson, Dave Pares, said.
Musk has previously backed far-right movements across Europe. In January, the then-Trump advisor called on Germans to vote for the Alternative for Germany party in upcoming elections, and last summer, Musk posted on X that “civil war is inevitable” amid anti-immigration riots in the United Kingdom. His comments come just days before Trump is set to meet with Starmer at Chequers Court.
Odds and Ends
An Indiana resident is turning to his roots (literally) to demonstrate his support for Ukraine. Last Wednesday, the Guinness World Records officially recognized a 35-foot flower nicknamed “Clover” as the world’s tallest sunflower. Alex Babich, a Ukrainian immigrant who came to the United States after the 1991 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, began growing sunflowers seven years ago to honor his homeland; the sunflower is Ukraine’s national flower. But following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Babich decided to see how far he could take his love of gardening to celebrate his country.
The post U.S., China Reach ‘Framework’ TikTok Deal appeared first on Foreign Policy.
