Facebook touts itself as American champ against China in hearings

TikTok accuses social media rival of 'attacks disguised as patriotism'

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks via video conference during a hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 29. © Reuters

ALEX FANG and YIFAN YU, Nikkei staff writers

July 30, 2020 07:56 JST

Updated on July 30, 2020 10:49 JST

NEW YORK/PALO ALTO U.S. -- Just five years ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a 20-minute speech in Mandarin at the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing, in which he praised "great Chinese companies" such as Alibaba Group Holding and Xiaomi, as well as China's history as "a story of innovation."

But on Wednesday in testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing into companies dubbed Big Tech, his tone was different, adjusted for a world that had completely changed.