For those that don’t know WeChat is called Weixin in China
The 45 day period ends on September 20
Trump’s executive order is intended to target WeChat specifically. The order may only block Americans’ ability to use WeChat
The other Tencent older messaging app that’s currently still in use in China is called QQ with several hundred million users. Tencent’s QQ app predates their WeChat app and originated as an ICQ-style instant messenger service for Windows
The QQ app also currently works in the U.S. It’s unclear at this time if Trump’s WeChat ban will also affect QQ
It’s not clear which “transactions” are actually prohibited whether it applies to money sent through WeChat or whether it will apply to money transferred between Tencent subsidiaries
Tencent is one of the largest tech companies in the world
Trump’s executive order language is broad, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to prohibit “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, or any subsidiary of that entity, as identified by the Secretary of Commerce.”
Any business with a Tencent ownership stake is potentially implicated since an abrupt departure of Tencent from the market could throw their financial situations into chaos in the midst of a global economic crisis
It’s hard to say precisely what the impact will be but the sheer scope of the company’s investments shows how ugly things could get
Tencent’s production company and distributor Tencent Pictures is involved in major Hollywood productions like Wonder Woman, Venom, Terminator: Dark Fate and the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick. It also acts as a major film distributor within China and it owns minority stakes in a range of smaller production companies
Last year Tencent struck a $1.5 billion five-year deal with the NBA to stream its games in China
Snapchat owner Snap sold a 12 percent stake to Tencent in 2017
This year Tencent bought a 10 percent stake in Universal Music Group
Tencent has a 9 percent stake in Spotify with the two partnering on Tencent Music in China
Tencent owns about 14 percent of Kakao which runs the Kakao Games platform and Kakao Talk the most popular chat app in South Korea
Trump’s WeChat ban would also put Apple in a uniquely difficult position. If Apple is forced to remove WeChat from the App Store as it likely will be consumers in China are going to stop buying iPhones. An iPhone without WeChat would be even less useful in China than a Huawei phone without Google is in the West
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