Officials in China “resolutely oppose” a potential forced sale of social media platform TikTok in the United States from its Chinese parent company, a move that many American lawmakers have floated in response to national security and data privacy issues linked to the company.

Both Democrats and Republicans have raised concerns over allegations that user information on TikTok can be accessed by employees of ByteDance, the Chinese technology firm which owns TikTok, and associates of the Chinese Communist Party. Shu Jueting, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, remarked on Thursday that officials will not permit a forced divestiture of TikTok from ByteDance, according to a report from the Associated Press.

“If the news is true, China will resolutely oppose it,” she told reporters at a news conference, adding that the sale “would seriously damage investors from multiple countries including China” and hurt “confidence to invest in the United States.”

[I’ll bet they’re not. ~ Beege]