No one with even a pretension to dignity would just cave in the face of force.

Although, they do seem willing to sell potentially.

China restricted them from selling their recommendation algorithm, and it's hard to sell TikTok without.

But, TikTok did immediately start work on an independent algorithm that has no ties to China, so that they can sell it if it really comes down to it.

Oh, so the Chinese governement is taking time from managing their huge country to stop that particular company from selling its recommendation algorithm.

And you are telling me this is perfectly normal.