Singaporeans are expressing their frustration with uninformed or discriminatory perceptions of their country after a U.S. senator questioned the nationality of the CEO of TikTok, implying a connection to the Chinese Communist Party.

On Wednesday, TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew and other technology company executives, including Meta, X, and Snap, testified before U.S. lawmakers about the negative impact of social media on children.

At the hearing, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark, repeatedly inquired about Chew’s nationality and potential connections to the Chinese Communist Party.

TikTok, which is operated by the Chinese firm ByteDance, has over 150 million users in America. U.S. lawmakers have regarded TikTok with considerable suspicion over whether its data can be accessed by the Chinese government and whether the app can be used to expand China’s influence. Chinese companies are required to set up Communist Party cells.

Cotton inquired about your citizenship, as you frequently mention that you reside in Singapore. Which country do you hold citizenship in?

Chew confirmed that he is a citizen of Singapore. However, Cotton continued to inquire if Chew holds citizenship in any other country and if he has ever attempted to obtain Chinese citizenship. China also does not allow dual citizenship and rarely approves citizenship applications.

After Chew replied with a negative answer to both inquiries, Cotton inquired about his past membership or affiliation with the Chinese Communist Party.

“I am from Singapore, not a Senator,” Chew replied, looking confused. The party has a requirement of Chinese citizenship for its members.

The Washington Post compared Cotton’s line of questioning to the tactics used by Senator McCarthy. Video clips of the exchange were shared on social media and received a significant amount of views.

A video clip on Instagram from Singapore’s leading newspaper The Straits Times received approximately 2,000 remarks, the majority of which were negative or ridiculing Cotton for his questioning.

“Senator, are you aware of the location of Singapore?” inquired one individual. Another commented that “appearing Chinese does not necessarily equate to being Chinese.”

Around three-quarters of Singapore’s population, which is around 5.9 million people, is made up of ethnic Chinese. This is due to a wave of Chinese immigrants who arrived in Singapore during the 1800s and early 1900s. However, many young Singaporeans do not see China as their cultural homeland.

Chew appeared before U.S. lawmakers for the second time on Wednesday. His first testimony was in March 2023. The questioning lasted for six hours, with legislators addressing concerns about TikTok’s data security and harmful content.

At first, Jojo Choo, a marketing manager in her thirties, expressed her happiness upon seeing a Singaporean being elected into Congress.

“She expressed her initial sense of pride upon learning that the CEO of a massive company was from Singapore,” she recalled. “However, it wasn’t long before I recognized the senator’s questions were filled with ignorance.”

Choo expressed that the questions posed by Cotton contained elements of racism and it was unfair to assume that a person of Chinese ethnicity would automatically be connected to China.

Fian Fazlie, a Singaporean, expressed being “thoroughly perplexed yet entertained” by the senator’s inquiry.

Fazlie, who is employed in the public transportation industry, described Cotton’s recent Instagram post as a display of ignorance and an attempt to rationalize his words.

Cotton shared a video of his interview on Fox News on Instagram, commenting in the caption about Chew needing to provide an explanation.

According to Cotton on Fox News, it is possible to have a connection or association with the Chinese Communist Party regardless of location. He also stated that the Biden administration has numerous cases against American citizens who are believed to be cooperating or employed by the Chinese Communist Party.

Cotton stated that Singapore is one of the locations with the greatest level of infiltration and impact from the Chinese Communist Party.

The basis for Cotton’s claims about Singapore is unclear.

The 41-year-old Chew is a native of Singapore, where he lives with his wife Vivian Kao and their three children. Prior to joining TikTok, Chew worked for five years at Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone company. Before that, he was a partner at the venture capital firm DST Global and earlier worked at Goldman Sachs.

Source: wral.com