Yes, it's region banned (not just by IP so VPNs don't even really work well). You'll get a 404, if you try connecting, and your packet rate won't support video through a VPN. Note that it's also banned in HK and India and parts of Europe so it's not really anything new to ban it when you're talking about almost half the world's population.

Couldn't people just say "but Instagram" is just TikTok? Is it really the "same thing" just, because the same people have control, if the algos, servers, content, moderation/censorship, and promotion are different? Like BlueSky, Twitter, and TruthCentral are all the same thing? Or if we want the "same company" company Allo and Hangouts? I mean everyone loved Allo, right, you can have that one.