The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to review a request from TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to block a law that would require the sale of the popular video-sharing app by Jan 19, or face a ban on national security grounds.
Bytedance has made it clear that it will not sell TikTok, which has tens of millions of U.S. users.
The nation's top court is set to hear arguments on Jan 10 regarding whether the law unconstitutionally limits freedom of speech, in breach of the country's First Amendment.
The court issued its decision to hear the case just two days following TikTok's petition for an injunction against the law.
In April, U.S. President Joe Biden enacted the law that gave ByteDance only 270 days to sell TikTok, citing unfounded national security concerns. If the company fails to comply, the law will require app store operators such as Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their platforms.
In May, TikTok sued the U.S. government to block the potential ban, which has drawn widespread criticism.
In early December, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. dismissed TikTok's claim that the ban is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment rights of the 170 million U.S. users.
On Monday, TikTok asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the law, arguing that it will shutter one of America's most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration, and silence the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern.
U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments over TikTok ban
U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments over TikTok ban
China's Macao Special Administrative Region is looking to diversify its economy beyond its flourishing tourism sector and harness the various advantages from its geographic location in the Greater Bay Area, according to a business leader in the region.
Kevin Ho King Lun, director of the Industry and Commerce Association of Macao, said the region has punched well above its weight economically but is now aiming to further develop through pursuing a "1+4" economic diversification strategy.
The five-year plan, which is scheduled to run through to 2028, will continue to build on its strong tourism and leisure sector while promoting four core industries, namely health and wellness, modern finance, high-tech, and a broader sector which includes exhibitions, commerce, culture and sports.
"Macao is a relatively small economy, with only 680,000 people [and an area of] 33 square kilometers, we are having roughly 400 billion [yuan] in GDP. That gives Macao a very stable economy. For us to transform into a new economic module, apart from already a very successful and prosperous tourism sector, but we have been relying too heavily on the tourism. So we need to start to diversify it. Now we have the '1+4' transformation. From tourism, we need to add in modern finance, we need to add in high-tech businesses, and we need to [also grow] a greater health industry. We are small, but we are flexible," said Ho.
Ho believes that region's positioning as part of the Greater Bay Area -- a major city cluster and vibrant economic region which comprises Hong Kong and Macao, and nine cities in south China's Guangdong Province -- will also enable its service and financial industries to benefit significantly, as Macao integrates further with the mainland.
He also believes the integration of Macao with major economic centers like Shenzhen and Hong Kong -- one of the world's top financial hubs -- will significantly boost the region's global competitiveness.
"Service industries, the finance industry will perform better in the Greater Bay Area, because we have Shenzhen, we have Hong Kong. We have to better utilize the finance and the modern finance breakthrough, so that we are more in the level playing field amongst the world. Macao, as a service industry, we can utilize Macao to attract many more international forums, exhibitions into Hong Kong, Macao and the Greater Bay Area. If we can break through the borders, I think we will have the best places for anywhere in the world to perform shows, to do forums, to attract really high-end business people into our Greater Bay Area," said Ho.
Macao aims to diversify economy beyond tourism sector: business leader
Macao aims to diversify economy beyond tourism sector: business leader
