US Corporations do not have the power to 'stand up to China'.
People need to start to understand that when it comes to major international players, over $50B, that are related to state actors - then it's a geopolitical question as much as an economic one.
TikTok is not just a company, it's a strategic arm of the Chinese government.
China 'divides and conquers' and pushes ruthlessly on any and all entities in pursuit of its goals. They coordinate student groups on Western Uni campuses to oversee Chinese students, suppress any ideas or policies in their way. They threaten any politician, and the press from publishing or making statements they're not happy with.
They use the 'carrot' of access to their huge market, but often this is a ruse - as they require foreign companies to hand over IP to local companies, this IP filters into the hands of state-backed competitors and the entrant never has an opportunity. All of this is in blatant contradiction to WTO terms.
The Western companies that have made inroads are ones that have a lot of brand value, think McDonald's or Disney, but even then, China can have leverage: Big Hollywood films are made for global audiences, and China is a big market over which the government censors and controls content. China dictate terms to major Hollywood studios - and said studios comply - or are banned. It's that simple.
"If you do not promote our policies, and portray China a certain way, you do not get access to our market. So here is how you are going to portray us: ..."
Only the US President or the leader of the EU with the backing of the German Chancellor has the hope of applying pressure on China in any serious way. The Europeans won't so it's down to the US president.
Trump is blustering, nationalist, and not quite focused on the right things in 'standing up to China' and I think he might be doing it for some of the wrong reasons, nevertheless, he is doing it, and actually it is working. He has mostly a competent team doing it.
China's tactics have made a lot of talk behind closed doors around the world and even Dems, Europeans - everyone - is actually happy about this.
Sadly, it may be that the next administration may not have the wherewithal to continue to push for better terms because it does require a fairly steadfast and aggressive approach inconsistent with the personal manner of say, a guy like Obama, whom I admire quite a lot, but who I don't think will do what is needed.
Assume that anything you say on Zoom or TikTok could be made available fairly readily to the Chinese government and that they will leverage control of TikTok for whatever reason they want, consistent with their overall geopolitical strategy.