China mouthpiece turns US icon 'Uncle Sam' into 'Peeping Trump' amid TikTok row

As the US mounts pressure on China to sell TikTok to an American company in 6 weeks, China's mouthpiece media China Daily put out a cartoon depicting America's popular icon Uncle Sam spying on the world, in a mockery of the spying charges put by the US on the Chinese app.

In the cartoon, 'Uncle Sam' can be seen surrounded by telescopes and cameras recording or spying on the 'world' which is depicted as a person taking a shower inside a house. Next to Uncle Sam, a chat bubble reads, "TikTok is spying on people's privacy. Don't ask me why I know." 

Uncle Sam is a common national personification of the U.S. federal government. With its origins around the War of 1812, Uncle Sam was widely used in World War I and II recruitment posters, often depicted with the country's national colours pointing his finger at the person looking at him saying "I Want You."

Read: China Accuses US Of 'outright Bullying' After Trump's TikTok Ban Threat

Read: Trump Says TikTok Will Go 'out Of Business' If Not Sold To American Company Within 6 Weeks

Trump warns TikTok

Trump had earlier last week announced that TikTok will go out of business by September in his country if not sold to an American company. He also gave six weeks time to the Chinese company to sell its US operations to an American company. He added that the government wanted a financial benefit from the deal. "

It's got to be an American company... it's got to be owned here. We don't want to have any problem with security. I set a date of around September 15, at which point it's going to be out of business in the United States," Trump said. The US has accused TikTok of collecting user’s personal information. 

On the other hand, China has accused the United States of “outright bullying” them saying that it was against the principles of the market economy and that Trump was 'abusing the concept of national security.' 

Read: Republican Senators Back Plans Of Divesting TikTok's US Operations, Call It 'win-win'

Read: Donald Trump's Announcement Of Banning TikTok Triggers Memes With Mixed Reactions