The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that U.S. buyers and TikTok were working toward "finalizing" a framework for a deal in which a U.S. entity would own an 80 percent stake in the company while Chinese shareholders would own the rest. The story also revealed that the potential buyers were Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Trump postponed his administration's enforcement of the TikTok divest-or-ban bill again by 90 days -- the fourth time he's done so -- with the new deadline of Dec. 16.

Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz are part of a consortium that would control an 80% stake.

The Madrid talks are a silver lining. Looking ahead, the normalization of Sino-US tech exchange — and the broader bilateral relationship — hinges on whether the US will stop politicizing and weaponizing economic and technological issues.