英国冒着“惹怒特朗普”的风险，为TikTok铺开了欢迎的红地毯

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虽然在美国遭遇了“围猎”和“强抢豪夺”，海外版抖音TikTok却受到了英国的欢迎。

英国《太阳报》当地时间8月2日报道，英国政府目前为TikTok在伦敦设立总部亮了“绿灯”，有关部门大臣对此表示支持，并称这一计划将在接下来的几天内公布。消息曝光后，路透社、《卫报》等英媒相继转引。

其中，《卫报》还表示，英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊（Boris Johnson）“为了向TikTok铺开红地毯，已经做好了惹怒特朗普的准备”。

8月3日晚，字节跳动公司也发布声明，表示“根据目前情况，字节跳动考虑在美国之外的主要市场，重新设立TikTok总部，以更好地服务全球用户”。

对于TikTok在伦敦设立总部一事，英国政府早前曾作过相关表态。一位政府发言人称，字节跳动决定其全球总部的地点是公司的商业决定。英国是个公平开放的投资市场，并支持经济增长和就业。

但与此同时，英国保守党议员中国研究小组的联合创始人尼尔·奥布赖恩（Neil O‘Brien）也呼吁，英国政府应在字节跳动决定是否在英设立TikTok总部之前，对该应用进行安全审查。英国政府目前尚未就安全审查发表评论。

TikTok is poised to announce the location of its new global headquarters, with reports suggesting that the company may choose London. It is believed UK government ministers and TikTok's owners ByteDance will reveal the plans within days. 

ByteDance has been in discussions with government officials in London for months about moving their global headquarters there from Beijing. But it is diplomatically risky on behalf of Boris Johnson, as a decision to allow the company to set up shop in the UK capital could open up a rift with President Trump - who has threatened to ban the app on American soil. 

 # 为什么TikTok对伦敦很重要 ？# 

TikTok is an app owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance and enables users to upload 15-60 second video clips./AFP

目前，TikTok在欧洲拥有约1000名员工，其中大部分在英国和爱尔兰。据估计，如果TikTok将总部设立在英国，它将为该国新增3000个就业机会。

TikTok母公司字节跳动的一位发言人今年早些时候曾表示，公司一直致力于在英国投资，英国员工数量在过去一年增加了三倍，并且这一数字还将强劲增长。

在部分英国官员的眼中，这种增长是这个国家“不能忽视的”。

据《太阳报》报道，有英国大臣表示拒绝TikTok这种大公司入驻是“愚蠢”的，尤其是在英国脱欧的大背景下。

另外，疫情期间，TikTok在英国也大受欢迎。今年4月，也就是英国“封城”的第一个月，有1290万英国成年用户对TikTok进行了访问，这一数据在一月仅为540万。

TikTok currently employs around 1,000 people in Europe, with the majority of those based in the UK and Ireland and it is believed that basing its headquarters in the UK has the potential to create 3,000 jobs. 

A ByteDance spokesperson said the company was "fully committed to investing in London… UK employees have quadrupled over the last year and we expect continued strong growth."

That growth is something some government officials in the UK believe the country can't ignore. In The Sun newspaper, ministers were quoted as saying it would be "absurd" to reject such a large company wanting to come to Britain, especially given the context of Brexit. 

 # 为什么TikTok对伦敦感兴趣？# 

A TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone, January 6, 2020. /Reuters

字节跳动发言人曾表示，英国是公司在全球最重要的市场之一，公司在伦敦拥有一支才华横溢且多元化的团队，包括高层领导。

目前TikTok最大的办公区在洛杉矶，伦敦排第二。

伦敦是一个迅速发展的科技中心，谷歌、Facebook、亚马逊、推特等美国科技公司巨头在伦敦均设有办公区。

作为全球发展最迅猛的一款应用，TikTok想要在伦敦设立总部也并不让人意外。

TikTok says "the UK is one of our most important markets globally, with a talented and diverse team in London, including senior leadership." 

The company's biggest office is in Los Angeles, but London has emerged as a close second.The capital is a burgeoning tech hub, with U.S. tech giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon and Twitter having already set up large glitzy offices. As the fastest-growing app in the world it is maybe no surprise that TikTok wants to follow suit. 

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