Five years of technical strides in China

China has made great strides in science and technology in the past five years and is now committed to innovation-driven economic growth.

Following are some highlights of China’s technical breakthroughs.

Photo taken on June 13, 2017 shows China's Caihong (CH), or Rainbow, solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on its test flight. With a wingspan of 45 meters, the solar-powered drone by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp is capable of flying at an altitude of 20 to 30 kilometers and has a cruising at a speed of 150 to 200 km per hour for long periods. (Photo: China News Service/Zhong Xin)

A view of the China's first molten-salt solar thermal power plant in Dunhuang City, Northwest China’s Gansu Province, Dec. 9, 2016. The molten-salt solar power plant, which was successfully connected to the grid on Dec. 26, 2016, is the third of its kind in the world and it generates electricity purely from solar power 24 hours a day. (Photo: China News Service/Yang Yanmin)

The C919, China's first homemade large passenger aircraft, rolled out of the final assembly line in Shanghai, Nov. 2, 2015. (Photo: China News Service/Zhang Hengwei)

A Long March-7 carrier rocket lifts off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, South China's Hainan Province, June 25, 2016. (Photo: China News Service/Luo Yunfei)

A visitor takes pictures of a model of the Micius quantum satellite. China launched the world's first quantum satellite on a Long March-2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, Aug. 16, 2016. (Photo: China News Service/Han Suyuan)

Tu Youyou (R) who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine delivers a lecture at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, Dec. 7, 2015. (Photo: China News Service/Shen Chen)

China successfully launched its fifth manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 10, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gansu Province, June 11, 2013. Pictured are three astronauts aboard a simulated spacecraft. (Photo: China News Service/Qin Xianan)

China successfully launched its fifth manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 10, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gansu Province, June 11, 2013.(Photo: China News Service/Zhang Lei)

Photo taken on Sept. 25, 2016 shows the 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. FAST, world's largest radio telescope, measures 500 meters in diameter. (Photo: China News Service/He Junyi)

By July 9, 2017, China had completed the trial exploration of flammable ice in the South China Sea, which extracted more than 300,000 cubic meters during 60 days of non-stop mining. China began research into flammable ice in 1998 and found deposits in the South China Sea in 2007. A number of breakthroughs were made during the trial exploration, ranging from extraction methods to environmental protection. (Photo: China News Service/Zhu Xia)

LONDON (AP) — TikTok is in the crosshairs of authorities in the U.S., where new law threatens a nationwide ban unless its China-based parent ByteDance divests. It would be the biggest blow yet to the popular video-sharing app, which has faced various restrictions around the world.

TikTok is already banned in a handful of countries and from government-issued devices in a number of others, due to official worries that the app poses privacy and cybersecurity concerns.

Those fears are reflected in the U.S. law, which is the culmination of long-held bipartisan fears in Washington that China’s communist leaders could force ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data, or influence Americans by suppressing or promoting certain content. TikTok has long maintained that it doesn’t share data with the Chinese government and its CEO has taken a defiant stance, vowing to fight back.

Here are the places that have partial or total bans on TikTok:

AFGHANISTAN

TikTok has been banned since 2022, along with videogame PUBG, after the country's Taliban leadership decided to forbid access on the grounds of protecting young people from “being misled.”

AUSTRALIA

TikTok is not allowed on devices issued by the Australian federal government. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said he made the decision after getting advice from the country’s intelligence and security agencies.

BELGIUM

The National Security Council decided last month to indefinitely ban TikTok from devices owned or paid for by the federal government. The ban was issued on a temporary basis last year on worries about cybersecurity, privacy and misinformation. Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said it was based on warnings from the country’s state security service and cybersecurity center.

CANADA

Devices issued by the federal government are forbidden from using TikTok. Officials cited an “unacceptable” risk to privacy and security and said the app would be removed from devices and employees blocked from downloading it.

CHINA

TikTok has never been available in mainland China, a fact that CEO Shou Chew has mentioned in testimony to U.S. lawmakers. ByteDance instead offers Chinese users Douyin, a similar video-sharing app that follows Beijing’s strict censorship rules. TikTok also ceased operations in Hong Kong after a sweeping Chinese national security law took effect.

DENMARK

Denmark’s Defense Ministry banned its employees from having TikTok on their work phones, ordering staffers who have installed it to remove the app from devices as soon as possible. The ministry said the reasons for the ban included both “weighty security considerations” as well as “very limited work-related need to use the app.”

EUROPEAN UNION

The European Parliament, European Commission and the EU Council, the 27-member bloc’s three main institutions, have imposed bans on TikTok on staff devices. Under the European Parliament’s ban, lawmakers and staff were also advised to remove the TikTok app from their personal devices.

FRANCE

“Recreational” use of TikTok and other social media apps like Twitter and Instagram on government employees’ phones has been banned because of worries about insufficient data security measures. The French government didn’t name specific apps but noted the decision came after other governments took measures targeting TikTok.

INDIA

India imposed a nationwide ban on TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps like messaging app WeChat in 2020 over privacy and security concerns. The ban came shortly after a clash between Indian and Chinese troops at a disputed Himalayan border killed 20 Indian soldiers and injured dozens. The companies were given a chance to respond to questions on privacy and security requirements but the ban was made permanent in 2021.

INDONESIA

TikTok isn't entirely banned in the sprawling, populous Southeast Asian nation, only its online retail function, after the authorities clamped down on e-commerce transactions carried out on social media platforms in a bid to protect small businesses.

LATVIA

Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics tweeted that he deleted his TikTok account and that the app is also prohibited from official foreign ministry smartphones.

NETHERLANDS

The Dutch central government banned apps including TikTok from employee work phones citing data security concerns. A government statement did not name TikTok specifically but said civil servants are discouraged from having apps “from countries with an offensive cyber program against the Netherlands and/or Dutch interests installed and used on their mobile work devices.”

NEPAL

The Himalayan country imposed a nationwide ban on TikTok, saying it was disrupting “social harmony” and goodwill and blaming it for a “flow of indecent materials.” Authorities ordered the telecom company to block access to the app.

NEW ZEALAND

Lawmakers in New Zealand and staff at the nation’s Parliament are prohibited from having the TikTok app on their work phones, following advice from government cybersecurity experts. The app was removed from all devices with access to the parliamentary network, although officials can make special arrangements for anybody who needs TikTok to perform their democratic duties.

NORWAY

The Norwegian parliament banned Tiktok on work devices after the country’s Justice Ministry warned the app shouldn’t be installed on phones issued to government employees. The Parliament’s speaker said TikTok shouldn’t be on devices that have access to the assembly’s systems and should be removed as quickly as possible. The country’s capital Oslo and second largest city Bergen also urged municipal employees to remove TikTok from their work phones.

PAKISTAN

Pakistani authorities have temporarily banned TikTok at least four times since 2020, citing concerns that the app promotes immoral content.

SOMALIA

The government ordered telecom companies to block access to TikTok, along with messaging app Telegram and gambling platform 1XBET. Officials said they were concerned that the platforms could spread extremist content, nude images and other material seen as offensive to Somali culture and Islam.

TAIWAN

Taiwan imposed a public sector ban on TikTok after the FBI warned that the app posed a national security risk. Government devices, including mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers, are not allowed to use Chinese-made software, which includes apps like TikTok, its Chinese equivalent Douyin, or Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle content app.

UNITED KINGDOM

British authorities banned TikTok from mobile phones used by government ministers and civil servants. Officials said the ban was a “precautionary move” on security grounds and doesn’t apply to personal devices. The British Parliament followed up by banning TikTok from all official devices and the “wider parliamentary network.” The semi-autonomous Scottish government and London City Hall also banned TikTok from staff devices. The BBC urged staff to delete TikTok from corporate devices unless they’re using it for editorial and marketing reasons.

UNITED STATES

U.S. authorities ordered government agencies to delete TikTok from federal devices and systems over data security concerns. More than half of the 50 U.S. states also have banned the app from official devices, as have Congress and the U.S. armed forces. Montana's efforts to bring in a state-wide ban failed, as did a proposal in Virginia to block kids from using it.

FILE - The TikTok logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. TikTok is gearing up for a legal fight against a U.S. law that would force the social media platform to break ties with its China-based parent company or face a ban. A battle in the courts will almost certainly be backed by Chinese authorities as the bitter U.S.-China rivalry threatens the future of a wildly popular way for young Americans to connect online. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

These are the countries where TikTok is already banned

These are the countries where TikTok is already banned

A TikTok content creator, speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington, as Senators prepare to consider legislation that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)