Dan Martin for Agence France-Presse:
Hong Kong has endured nearly four months of protests that were ignited by a now-scrapped plan to allow extraditions of criminal suspects to the mainland.They snowballed into a movement calling for more democratic freedoms and police accountability, in the biggest challenge to China’s rule of Hong Kong since its handover from the British in 1997.
Chinese state media has repeatedly warned foreign firms against speaking out or taking any actions to support the protesters, warning it could cost them access to China’s market of 1.4 billion people.
Tech giant Apple, which has a huge presence in China, on Wednesday became the latest target.
An opinion piece in the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, slammed a transport app available on Apple’s store that it alleged helped protesters identify police in Hong Kong. “Apple’s approval for the app obviously helps rioters,” the article said. “Does this mean Apple intended to be an accomplice to the rioters?” The article then cautioned that: “The map app is just the tip of the iceberg”, alleging a song supporting Hong Kong independence had also appeared on its music store.
“Nobody wants to drag Apple into the lingering unrest in Hong Kong. But people have reason to assume that Apple is mixing business with politics, and even illegal acts,” it said. “Apple has to think about the consequences of its unwise and reckless decision.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s only “unwise and reckless decision” was Tim Cook’s for putting too many eggs in the Chinese basket and leaving them there for too long. Yes, we understand why it was done. Yes, it helped to save Apple. But, the move to diversify production worldwide in order to mitigate risk should have begun more urgently earlier. Apple needs to continue and step up their work to liberate themselves from communist China’s threats.
Hongkongers, the HKmap 即時地圖 app is available via Apple’s App Store here, but the app is not a requirement for accessing the HKmap Live service as it remains available online here: https://hkmap.live
Cook is a globalist and that’s all there is to it. This wasn’t a ‘flub’, but is rather wholly indicative of his entire mindset. Sorry, but kowtowing to one of the most dictatorial governments on the face of the earth in the name of profit is despicable by any measure and by anyone.
Cook didn’t kowtow to China when the app got pulled. That was obviously the work of a low-level app reviewer.
That it was reinstated means it had to go up many layers of management, maybe even up to the C-level since this is such a sensitive matter. And that C-level decided not to kowtow to China.
The globalists plan was to bring China into the world economic order and that engagement would moderate their behavior. Obviously that plan failed. The US now more than ever needs allies to force China to conform to international standards. And what is Trump doing? Doing his best to drive our allies away. And as I write this, Turkey has slaughter of our Kurdish allies has started. Absolutely disgusting.
It’s obviously unwise to challenge the great and unmatched wisdom of the Chinese government! /s
The Chinese government and anyone else who’s so delusional they think their wisdom is great and unmatched are full of themselves and can go get stuffed.
Those of us who are not suffering from TDS can still recognize a facetious joke that President Trump was likely chuckling over as he typed it. He’s toying with you and the rest of the TDS contingent. You don’t get the very obvious joke because your hatred has blinded you to it.
Dickhead Donald doesn’t have the mental capacity to be facetious.
So governance by idiocracy is your standard. SMH!
tRump envies such power.
Put the app back up. Have everyone DL it and then pull it again. Opps sorry China. Our bad. How did that happen!
All hi flyin moralists come floodin in when China tries to defend itself from insurrection and vandalism. I dont know that China has demanded encryption backdoors like many police- and securityforces have in western countries?
they dont need backdoor when they already have the keys to the vault
https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/18/17587304/apple-icloud-china-user-data-state-run-telecom-privacy-security
Go Hong Kong!
Go Apple!
I too got on Apple’s case for this. Even though they reversed the removal, I remain on their case that it’s even possible to censor.
Apple just pulled the app from it’s store again. That proves how much power China government has to intimidate multinational companies. For Apple and the rest money is more important than freedom of speech. How disappointing.