The communist regime in China is using two popular Chinese apps—WeChat and TikTok—to exert influence over Americans and the Chinese diaspora, a China expert told U.S. lawmakers on Nov. 17. “It’s essential to remember that all Chinese tech companies are subject to the control of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP],” said Wang Yaqiu, a senior researcher at New York-based Human Rights Watch, during a hearing hosted by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). Wang said that TikTok, which announced in September that it had 1 billion active users around the world, is not a normal social media app and puts users at risk. “There is no way for outsiders to know what information is being suppressed or promoted on TikTok that is due to the Chinese government’s influence,” she said. “What you see on TikTok is not so much decided by who you follow, but by the company’s algorithm.” “If …