TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — India has banned another 118 Chinese mobile applications after troops from the two countries clashed once again along their disputed Himalayan border.
The Indian government announced the decision Wednesday (Sept. 2) and said the 118 Chinese apps were a danger to national security and the sovereignty of the country's cyberspace. It said it had received complaints from multiple sources about Chinese mobile apps being used to steal users' information to servers outside of India.
Among the newly banned apps was Tencent Holdings' popular video game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), which has more than 50 million users in India. Meanwhile, Baidu, Alipay, and different versions of the messaging app WeChat were also on the list, according to The New York Times.
Although India did not directly link the new measures to its ongoing border standoff with Beijing, international experts have considered the ban to be an act of retaliation against China by placing pressure on its technology companies. Earlier this week, a Tibetan soldier in India's special forces was killed by a Chinese land mine, although no confirmation has been made by the Indian army so far, according to Reuters.
This was not the first time Chinese apps were banned by India. In June, following a bloody melee that led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers, the Indian government announced that it would ban 59 Chinese mobile apps, including TikTok, WeChat, UC Browser, and Cam Scanner, for security reasons, reported Liberty Times.
Popular Chinese mobile game PUBG. (Facebook, PUBG Corporation photo)