8 ms·

interesting. Manus is nominally a Singapore based company and should be immune to these actions. Tiktok argued that it was headquartered in Singapore with a S

interesting. Manus is nominally a Singapore based company and should be immune to these actions. Tiktok argued that it was headquartered in Singapore with a Singaporean CEO. breaking singapore’s fig leaf might prove problematic in the long run.

raven12345 5mo ago
interesting. US also blocked exports by a Dutch company to China.
nerdsniper 5mo ago
The founders are Chinese citizens, and pressure was applied to the founders personally. Thus Singapore was given room to save face re: sovereignty.
- rtpg 5mo ago
  > After a $75 million fundraising round led by U.S. venture firm Benchmark in May 2025, Manus shut its China offices in July, laying off dozens of employees. It then moved its operations to Singapore. The company itself was based in mainland China less than 12 months ago.
  - culi 5mo ago
    Yeah if an American tech firm had been working in the US for 5 years and then tried to close all US offices down and move its IPs and tech to a different country so that it can sell out to Alibaba or Bytedance, I'm sure the US would react in the same exact way. The sinophobia in this thread is ridiculous. Whether you agree or disagree with what China is doing, nothing is happening that wouldn't also happen in the US.
    - bit-anarchist 5mo ago
      What sinophobia? I haven't seen anyone here talking shit about chinese indivuduals. Or are they trashing China (the nation-state)? If we count that as xenophobia, is any unjust criticism of USA "americanphobia"? If so, fine, but I'd rather not anthropomorphize megacorps with monopolies on violence.
      - culi 5mo ago
        You don't think it's possible that Japanophobia could fuel criticisms of Nintendo? Or that Russophobia could fuel criticisms against a Russian company? You don't need to anthropomorphize anything.
        bit-anarchist 5mo ago
        One thing is to say that some of the comments may be motivated by xenophobia (could be true, but I'm no psychic, and you likely aren't either), another is to use the criticisms as proof of xenophobia. Since you mentioned Nintendo, do you think the many criticisms(fair or otherwise) against Nintendo and their games are due to Japanophobia? I think its fairly clear that, when talking bad about China, they are focusing on its goverment, not its people nor ethnicities.
pear01 5mo ago
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR): So you said today, as you often say that you live in Singapore. Of what nation are you a citizen? Shou Chew: Singapore. Cotton: Are you a citizen of any other nation? Chew: No, Senator. Cotton: Have you ever applied for Chinese citizenship? Chew: Senator? I served my nation in Singapore. No, I did not. Cotton: Do you have a Singaporean passport? Chew: Yes, and I served my military for two and a half years in Singapore. Cotton: Do you have any other passports from any other nations? Chew: No, Senator. Cotton: Your wife is an American citizen. Your children are American citizens? Chew: That's correct. Cotton: Have you ever applied for American citizenship? Chew: No, not yet. Cotton: Okay. Have you ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party? Chew: Senator? I'm Singaporean, no. Cotton: Have you ever been associated or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party? Chew: No. Senator, again, I'm Singaporean.
- HSO 5mo ago
  what part of they are chinese citizens was hard for you to understand?
  - pear01 5mo ago
    i understand that perfectly, which is why i responded sarcastically to a point trying to connect this to TikTok's "argument" re their Singaporean CEO by pasting an infamous digression on that very topic. seems to have gone over your head... i edited out the crack about your iq, which was done only because you chose to engage that way to begin with. i would respect an apology for misreading me more than trying to sanitize your earlier arrogance, but c'est la vie.
    - IncreasePosts 5mo ago
      Some people are ethnonationalists, and the CEO of Tiktok, while he is Singaporean, is also ethnically Chinese. It seems pretty clear that is what the line of questioning was about, and just saying you are Singaporean and not Chinese does not answer the unstated question. Like his politics or not, it is obvious that Tom Cotton is not an idiot who does not understand that Singapore is not in China (like conversation was interpreted on the Internet when it happened)

raven12345 5mo ago

interesting. US also blocked exports by a Dutch company to China.

nerdsniper 5mo ago

The founders are Chinese citizens, and pressure was applied to the founders personally. Thus Singapore was given room to save face re: sovereignty.

rtpg 5mo ago
> After a $75 million fundraising round led by U.S. venture firm Benchmark in May 2025, Manus shut its China offices in July, laying off dozens of employees. It then moved its operations to Singapore. The company itself was based in mainland China less than 12 months ago.
- culi 5mo ago
  Yeah if an American tech firm had been working in the US for 5 years and then tried to close all US offices down and move its IPs and tech to a different country so that it can sell out to Alibaba or Bytedance, I'm sure the US would react in the same exact way. The sinophobia in this thread is ridiculous. Whether you agree or disagree with what China is doing, nothing is happening that wouldn't also happen in the US.
  - bit-anarchist 5mo ago
    What sinophobia? I haven't seen anyone here talking shit about chinese indivuduals. Or are they trashing China (the nation-state)? If we count that as xenophobia, is any unjust criticism of USA "americanphobia"? If so, fine, but I'd rather not anthropomorphize megacorps with monopolies on violence.
    - culi 5mo ago
      You don't think it's possible that Japanophobia could fuel criticisms of Nintendo? Or that Russophobia could fuel criticisms against a Russian company? You don't need to anthropomorphize anything.
      - bit-anarchist 5mo ago
        One thing is to say that some of the comments may be motivated by xenophobia (could be true, but I'm no psychic, and you likely aren't either), another is to use the criticisms as proof of xenophobia. Since you mentioned Nintendo, do you think the many criticisms(fair or otherwise) against Nintendo and their games are due to Japanophobia? I think its fairly clear that, when talking bad about China, they are focusing on its goverment, not its people nor ethnicities.

pear01 5mo ago

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR): So you said today, as you often say that you live in Singapore. Of what nation are you a citizen? Shou Chew: Singapore. Cotton: Are you a citizen of any other nation? Chew: No, Senator. Cotton: Have you ever applied for Chinese citizenship? Chew: Senator? I served my nation in Singapore. No, I did not. Cotton: Do you have a Singaporean passport? Chew: Yes, and I served my military for two and a half years in Singapore. Cotton: Do you have any other passports from any other nations? Chew: No, Senator. Cotton: Your wife is an American citizen. Your children are American citizens? Chew: That's correct. Cotton: Have you ever applied for American citizenship? Chew: No, not yet. Cotton: Okay. Have you ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party? Chew: Senator? I'm Singaporean, no. Cotton: Have you ever been associated or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party? Chew: No. Senator, again, I'm Singaporean.

HSO 5mo ago
what part of they are chinese citizens was hard for you to understand?
- pear01 5mo ago
  i understand that perfectly, which is why i responded sarcastically to a point trying to connect this to TikTok's "argument" re their Singaporean CEO by pasting an infamous digression on that very topic. seems to have gone over your head... i edited out the crack about your iq, which was done only because you chose to engage that way to begin with. i would respect an apology for misreading me more than trying to sanitize your earlier arrogance, but c'est la vie.
  - IncreasePosts 5mo ago
    Some people are ethnonationalists, and the CEO of Tiktok, while he is Singaporean, is also ethnically Chinese. It seems pretty clear that is what the line of questioning was about, and just saying you are Singaporean and not Chinese does not answer the unstated question. Like his politics or not, it is obvious that Tom Cotton is not an idiot who does not understand that Singapore is not in China (like conversation was interpreted on the Internet when it happened)