{"id":27333,"date":"2020-08-06T15:02:44","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T22:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=27333"},"modified":"2020-08-07T09:03:42","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T16:03:42","slug":"executive-order-on-addressing-the-threat-posed-by-wechat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=27333","title":{"rendered":"Executive Order on Addressing the Threat Posed by WeChat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Issued on:<\/span>\u00a0

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By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United\u00a0States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50\u00a0U.S.C. 1701\u00a0et seq<\/em>.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act\u00a0(50\u00a0U.S.C. 1601\u00a0et seq<\/em>.), and section\u00a0301 of\u00a0title\u00a03, United\u00a0States Code,<\/p>\n

I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of\u00a0America, find that additional steps must be taken to deal with the national emergency with respect to the information and communications technology and services supply chain declared in Executive Order 13873 of May 15, 2019 (Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain).\u00a0 As I\u00a0explained in an Executive Order of August 6, 2020 (Addressing the Threat Posed by Tiktok, and Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency With Respect to the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain), the spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People\u2019s Republic of China (China) continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.\u00a0 To protect our Nation, I took action to address the threat posed by one mobile application, TikTok.\u00a0 Further action is needed to address a similar threat posed by another mobile application, WeChat.<\/p>\n

WeChat, a messaging, social media, and electronic payment application owned by the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd., reportedly has over one billion users worldwide, including users in the United States.\u00a0 Like TikTok, WeChat automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users.\u00a0 This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans\u2019 personal and proprietary information.\u00a0 In addition, the application captures the personal and proprietary information of Chinese nationals visiting the United States, thereby allowing the Chinese Communist Party a mechanism for keeping tabs on Chinese citizens who may be enjoying the benefits of a free society for the first time in their lives.\u00a0 For example, in March 2019, a researcher reportedly discovered a\u00a0Chinese database containing billions of WeChat messages sent from users in not only China but also the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia.\u00a0 WeChat, like TikTok, also reportedly censors content that the Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive and may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the Chinese Communist Party. \u00a0These risks have led other countries, including Australia and India, to begin restricting or banning the use of WeChat. \u00a0The United States must take aggressive action against the owner of WeChat to protect our national security.
\nAccordingly, I hereby order:<\/p>\n

Section<\/u>\u00a01<\/u>.\u00a0 (a)\u00a0 The following actions shall be prohibited beginning 45 days after the date of this order, to the extent permitted under applicable law: any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with Tencent Holdings Ltd. (a.k.a. T\u00e9ngx\u00f9n K\u00f2ngg\u01d4 Y\u01d2uxi\u00e0n G\u014dngs\u012b), Shenzhen, China, or any subsidiary of that entity, as identified by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) under section 1(c) of this order.<\/p>\n

(b)\u00a0 The prohibition in subsection (a) of this section applies except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted before the date of this order.<\/p>\n

(c)\u00a0 45 days after the date of this order, the Secretary shall identify the transactions subject to subsection\u00a0(a) of this section.<\/p>\n

Sec<\/u>.\u00a02<\/u>.\u00a0 (a)\u00a0 Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate the prohibition set forth in this order is prohibited.<\/p>\n

(b)\u00a0 Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.<\/p>\n

Sec<\/u>.\u00a03<\/u>.\u00a0 For those persons who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to section 1 of this order would render those measures ineffectual.\u00a0 I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in\u00a0addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order\u00a013873, there need be no prior notice of an identification made pursuant to section 1(c) of this order.<\/p>\n

Sec<\/u>.\u00a04<\/u>.\u00a0 For the purposes of this order:<\/p>\n

(a) \u00a0the term \u201cperson\u201d means an individual or entity;<\/p>\n

(b) \u00a0the term \u201centity\u201d means a government or instrumentality of such government, partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization, including an international organization; and<\/p>\n

(c) \u00a0the term \u201cUnited States person\u201d means any United\u00a0States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.<\/p>\n

Sec<\/u>.\u00a05<\/u>.\u00a0 The Secretary is hereby authorized to take such actions, including adopting rules and regulations, and to employ\u00a0all powers granted to me by IEEPA as may be necessary to\u00a0implement this order.\u00a0 The Secretary may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions within the Department of Commerce.\u00a0 All departments and agencies of the United States shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to implement this order.<\/p>\n

Sec<\/u>.\u00a06<\/u>.\u00a0\u00a0General Provisions<\/u>.\u00a0 (a)\u00a0 Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:<\/p>\n

(i)\u00a0\u00a0 the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
\n(ii)\u00a0 the functions of the Director of the Office of\u00a0Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.<\/p>\n

(b)\u00a0 This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.<\/p>\n

(c) \u00a0This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United\u00a0States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.<\/p>\n

DONALD J. TRUMP<\/p>\n

THE WHITE HOUSE,
\nAugust 6, 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Issued on:\u00a0August 6, 2020 By the...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-tech","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27334,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27333\/revisions\/27334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}