China has accused the U.S. of overreacting after federal employees were ordered to remove Tiktok from government-issued phones

The White House gave government agencies 30 days to ensure that did not have the Chinese-owned app on their devices.

This follows similar moves by the E.U. and Canada over the past few weeks.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry says this is the U.S. abusing state power to suppress foreign firms.

“We firmly oppose those wrong actions,” spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters during a news briefing.

“The U.S. government should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop suppressing the companies and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies in the U.S.

“How unsure of itself can the world’s top superpower like the U.S. be to fear young people’s favourite app like that,” Ning said.

Western officials have become increasingly concerned about the app in recent months, and the data it may collect and pass onto the Chinese government.

The company repeatedly affirmed it doesn’t comply with an order to transfer data.