<p>TikTok's Chinese owner denied on Monday setting up a subsidiary company in Taiwan after the island's authorities said they were investigating the social media app for running "illegal operations".</p>.<p>The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan's top China policy-making body, said the cabinet had requested a multi-agency investigation during a meeting on security issues posed by TikTok earlier this month.</p>.<p>The case was also forwarded to prosecutors for investigation after a local company allegedly engaged in business activities in Taiwan on behalf of ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent firm, MAC said without elaborating.</p>.<p>Chinese internet and social media platforms are banned from operating businesses in Taiwan under local laws.</p>.<p>ByteDance said on Monday it had no presence in Taiwan.</p>.<p>"The recent reports suggesting ByteDance has set up a subsidiary in Taiwan are incorrect," a spokesperson told<em> AFP.</em></p>.<p>"The company has not established any legal entities in Taiwan."</p>.<p>TikTok is available in Taiwan but is not especially popular.</p>.<p>The Taiwanese newspaper Liberty Times reported on Monday that the subsidiary under investigation was a company set up in 2018 that changed its name to ByteDance Taiwan Ltd Co in November.</p>.<p>Taiwan has long warned that it is on the receiving end of huge Chinese disinformation and espionage campaigns.</p>.<p>It has ramped up scrutiny of Chinese businesses in recent years and imposed investment rules on various key sectors, including the island's state-of-the-art semiconductor industry.</p>.<p>MAC described TikTok as a security risk.</p>.<p>"In recent years, China has used TikTok and other short videos to conduct cognitive operations to infiltrate other countries," it said in a statement late on Sunday.</p>.<p>"There is also a high risk of users' personal information being collected for the Chinese government," it said.</p>.<p>China's authoritarian Communist Party claims democratic and self-ruled Taiwan and has vowed to one day seize it.</p>.<p>Relations between Beijing and Taipei are at their worst in years.</p>.<p>Beijing has increased military, diplomatic and economic pressure on the island since Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's president in 2016 because she views the island as a sovereign nation and not part of "one China".</p>.<p>Taipei has also accused Beijing of stepping up so-called "grey zone" threats, from warplane incursions into its air defence zone to cyberattacks and cognitive warfare.</p>.<p>TikTok denies being a security risk or that it is beholden to Chinese authorities.</p>.<p>However, the company has come under increasing pressure and scrutiny within Western nations, especially in the United States, over its Chinese ownership.</p>.<p>US senators voted unanimously last week to ban the video-sharing app on government phones, part of a growing bipartisan crackdown on TikTok.</p>
<p>TikTok's Chinese owner denied on Monday setting up a subsidiary company in Taiwan after the island's authorities said they were investigating the social media app for running "illegal operations".</p>.<p>The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan's top China policy-making body, said the cabinet had requested a multi-agency investigation during a meeting on security issues posed by TikTok earlier this month.</p>.<p>The case was also forwarded to prosecutors for investigation after a local company allegedly engaged in business activities in Taiwan on behalf of ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent firm, MAC said without elaborating.</p>.<p>Chinese internet and social media platforms are banned from operating businesses in Taiwan under local laws.</p>.<p>ByteDance said on Monday it had no presence in Taiwan.</p>.<p>"The recent reports suggesting ByteDance has set up a subsidiary in Taiwan are incorrect," a spokesperson told<em> AFP.</em></p>.<p>"The company has not established any legal entities in Taiwan."</p>.<p>TikTok is available in Taiwan but is not especially popular.</p>.<p>The Taiwanese newspaper Liberty Times reported on Monday that the subsidiary under investigation was a company set up in 2018 that changed its name to ByteDance Taiwan Ltd Co in November.</p>.<p>Taiwan has long warned that it is on the receiving end of huge Chinese disinformation and espionage campaigns.</p>.<p>It has ramped up scrutiny of Chinese businesses in recent years and imposed investment rules on various key sectors, including the island's state-of-the-art semiconductor industry.</p>.<p>MAC described TikTok as a security risk.</p>.<p>"In recent years, China has used TikTok and other short videos to conduct cognitive operations to infiltrate other countries," it said in a statement late on Sunday.</p>.<p>"There is also a high risk of users' personal information being collected for the Chinese government," it said.</p>.<p>China's authoritarian Communist Party claims democratic and self-ruled Taiwan and has vowed to one day seize it.</p>.<p>Relations between Beijing and Taipei are at their worst in years.</p>.<p>Beijing has increased military, diplomatic and economic pressure on the island since Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's president in 2016 because she views the island as a sovereign nation and not part of "one China".</p>.<p>Taipei has also accused Beijing of stepping up so-called "grey zone" threats, from warplane incursions into its air defence zone to cyberattacks and cognitive warfare.</p>.<p>TikTok denies being a security risk or that it is beholden to Chinese authorities.</p>.<p>However, the company has come under increasing pressure and scrutiny within Western nations, especially in the United States, over its Chinese ownership.</p>.<p>US senators voted unanimously last week to ban the video-sharing app on government phones, part of a growing bipartisan crackdown on TikTok.</p>