TikTok’s founder wonders what hit him

Zhang Yiming was having breakfast at home in Beijing in July when a message popped on his computer screen. A friend sent a link featuring President Trump, in which he said the coronavirus came from China and, as part of a U.S. response, he might ban TikTok, the hit video app Mr. Zhang founded.

Mr. Zhang was astonished. “China virus?” he told people around him later. What did the coronavirus have to do with TikTok?

From that initial shock, things quickly got worse.

First, Mr. Trump upped the stakes by ordering that TikTok’s parent company sell the app’s American operation or face a U.S. ban, on grounds it threatens national security through the data it gathers.