Microsoft's TikTok bid spotlights Windows maker's history with China

At the Microsoft office in Beijing, China, Aug 4. Microsoft employs roughly 6,000 people in the country, with offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Suzhou. — Reuters

SHANGHAI: Microsoft Corp has emerged as the most likely buyer of the US operations of TikTok, the popular Chinese short-video app that US President Donald Trump is preparing to effectively ban on national security grounds.

A deal would be in line with Microsoft's stance toward China where the firm has a sizeable presence – unlike fellow US tech heavyweights such as Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google which appear to have given up on China's consumer-facing market with its miscellany of government strictures.