Microsoft's long history in China complicates potential deal with TikTok

Microsoft entered China in 1992, helping to engineer the government's computer systems and installing special versions of Windows operating systems

Microsoft Corp.’s attempt to buy TikTok’s US operations represents the latest step in a careful dance the software maker has performed to meet the demands of the Chinese and US governments while doing business in both places, a balancing act that has grown increasingly fraught in the political conflict between the countries.

China hawks in the Trump administration oppose any purchase of the social-media service by Microsoft, which wants the popular app to expand its consumer internet business in the US. But the company also wants to maintain its robust business in China, the world’s most-populous country.

Microsoft entered China in 1992,