{"id":2028923,"date":"2023-09-12T07:54:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T11:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/apples-disgraceful-kowtowing-to-chinese-communists-is-starting-to-backfire\/"},"modified":"2023-09-12T08:02:15","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T12:02:15","slug":"apples-disgraceful-kowtowing-to-chinese-communists-is-starting-to-backfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/apples-disgraceful-kowtowing-to-chinese-communists-is-starting-to-backfire\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple&#8217;s appeasement of Chinese Communists is now causing negative consequences."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fapples-disgraceful-kowtowing-to-chinese-communists-is-starting-to-backfire%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2028923&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Few\u200d American CEOs have kowtowed to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as \u200cmuch as Apple\u2019s Tim\u2062 Cook. But Cook\u2019s bet on China, often \u2064at considerable reputational risk for him and \u2064his company, got a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/real-wages-are-in-decline\/\" title=\"Real Wages Are in Decline\">harsh reality check<\/a> after Beijing recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/china\/china-bans-iphone-use-for-government-officials-at-work-635fe2f8?mod=article_inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">banned<\/a> state employees \u2062from using foreign-branded \u2062smartphones, including the iPhone. <\/p>\n<p>For years, the CCP welcomed Apple \u200bbecause the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/apples-disgraceful-kowtowing-to-chinese-communists-is-starting-to-backfire\/\" title=\"Apple's appeasement of Chinese Communists is now causing negative consequences.\">company\u200c brought badly \u200dneeded technical<\/a> know-how, investment, and hundreds\u200d of thousands of jobs to \u2063China. The party rolled out the red carpet for Cook. He was often received by the CCP\u2019s top leadership and frequently\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2023\/03\/25\/apple-ceo-tim-cook-comments-during-beijing-visit.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spoke<\/a> at Chinese government-sponsored conferences, where\u200b he lavishly sang Beijing\u2019s \u2064praises.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1000332335\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0531409d6f1b11fa4a1b1f281765118f fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0531409d6f1b11fa4a1b1f281765118f\"><\/div>\n<p>Clearly, Cook has tried to be \u200con the CCP\u2019s good side due to China\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/facebook-oversight-board-member-joins-biden-doj\/\" title=\"Facebook Oversight Board Member Joins Biden DOJ\">critical role<\/a> in Apple\u2019s bottom line. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/breakingviews\/apples-high-valuation-exposes-it-chinas-whims-2023-09-07\/#:~:text=China%20accounts%20for%2019%25%20of,that%20of%20the%20overall%20company.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reuters<\/a>, China accounts for nearly 20 percent of Apple\u2019s annual revenue, or \u200dabout \u2064$80 billion. China is also Apple\u2019s most critical manufacturer hub; almost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-trade-apple-idUSKCN1VI29I\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">50 percent<\/a> of Apple\u2063 suppliers are based in \u200cthe country as of 2019.<\/p>\n<p>In the U.S., Cook\u2063 has promoted Apple as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trillion-dollar-values-based-esg-funds-pit-wall-street-against-main-street\/\" title=\"Trillion Dollar Values-Based \u2018ESG\u2019 Funds Pit Wall Street Against Main Street\">responsible corporate citizen<\/a> and \u200bunequivocal defender of democracy and social justice. In 2016, Apple fought a legal\u2062 battle to deny the FBI\u2019s request to\u200d help \u2064the agency break \u2062into the iPhone used\u200b by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook (he and his wife murdered 14 people in December\u200c 2015). Cook <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/02\/24\/468016377\/apple-ceo-tim-cook-back-door-to-iphones-would-be-software-equivalent-of-cancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> called\u200d the government\u2019s request a\u200b threat\u2064 to customers\u2019 privacy and\u2063 security, and \u201cthe software equivalent of cancer.\u201d \u2062He even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/01\/14\/technology\/apple-iphone-pensacola-shooting.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threatened<\/a> to resign if Apple didn\u2019t fight the FBI\u2019s request.<\/p>\n<p>Three years later, citing \u2063similar concerns, Apple again <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/world\/pensacola-base-investigation-apple-1.5574309\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refused<\/a> to help the Trump administration\u2019s Department of Justice\u2063 unlock \u2064two iPhones used by Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist\u200b who killed three \u2064people and injured several others at a \u200dnaval base\u200b in Pensacola, Florida, in 2019.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Apple Abandoned Its Values in China<\/h2>\n<p>But in China, \u200ddriven by profit and prestige, Apple \u200doften abandoned the values\u2063 it proclaimed\u200c to cherish and eagerly kowtowed to \u2062the CCP\u2019s demands. When the Chinese authorities requested access \u2062to Apple user data in 2018, Apple didn\u2019t resist, nor did Cook threaten to\u2062 resign. \u2064Instead, the company <a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2018\/02\/28\/technology\/apple-icloud-data-china\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">moved<\/a> iCloud accounts registered in\u2062 mainland China,\u200c along with the digital\u200d keys \u2063needed to\u200c unlock them, to servers\u2063 run by\u200d Guizhou-Cloud Big Data \u2062(GCBD), an entity owned by the government of Guizhou province. \u200bApple\u200d justified its action by insisting it was to \u200dcomply with China\u2019s controversial cybersecurity law. However, \u2062rights\u2062 groups <a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2018\/02\/28\/technology\/apple-icloud-data-china\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">criticized<\/a> the company for assisting an authoritarian regime in surveilling and\u2064 suppressing \u2064political dissenters in\u200d mainland \u2064China.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-aedce5188147b5331dae4aa9fc4f78b2 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-aedce5188147b5331dae4aa9fc4f78b2\"><\/div>\n<p>Similarly, \u2064in 2019,\u2063 Apple tried to appease the CCP by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/recode\/2019\/10\/23\/20927577\/apple-hong-kong-protest-app-democracy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">removing a popular app<\/a> used by Hong \u200cKong pro-democracy\u2063 protesters to locate \u200bpolice and \u200bdemonstrations. The\u2062 company only reinstalled the \u200capp after widespread \u2062backlash, including letters \u200dfrom Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,\u200b and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,\u2064 D-N.Y. Still, Apple has removed from its app store thousands of other apps that the Chinese government\u200b deemed illegal, including\u2062 virtual private\u200b networks, or VPNs, \u2062which allow users to bypass China\u2019s internet firewall.<\/p>\n<p>A\u200c 2020 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspi.org.au\/report\/uyghurs-sale\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> by the\u200d Australian Strategic Policy Institute\u200c found \u2063that\u200d thousands of Uyghur Muslims were forced laborers working for at least a dozen\u200d Apple contractors, including O-Film, an Apple contractor Cook \u200cvisited in\u200b 2017\u200b and praised for its \u201chumane approach towards employees.\u201d The revelation that\u200d Apple\u200c relied on slave laborers in\u200b China came after Cook announced his\u2063 company would put up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/06\/11\/apple-racial-equity-and-justice-initiative-100m.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$100 million<\/a> to fight for \u200dracial justice, not in China\u200d but in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Apple has \u2064been widely criticized for its \u201cone company, two\u2064 systems\u201d hypocrisy.\u200b Some also <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/11\/29\/apple-cant-ignore-its-giant-china-problem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warned<\/a> that the company\u2019s overreliance on China\u2019s market and supply chains and growing Sino-U.S. tensions mean \u2063the company\u2019s business model is unsustainable and would eventually damage Apple\u2019s \u200cbottom line.\u2063 History has also\u2063 shown\u2063 that an authoritarian regime such as\u2063 the \u200cCCP is not a reliable partner. The party knows how to deploy a charm offensive when it needs something \u2063(be it \u2064technology or capital) \u2063from foreign companies like Apple.\u2064 But once the party is done with them,\u2064 it will not\u200c hesitate to \u2063use them\u2064 as pawns and sacrifice them to score geopolitical and economic points.<\/p>\n<p>Apple should have been \u200calarmed last year, as protests <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/iphone-factory-workers-clash-with-police-at-covid-hit-plant-in-china-11669193001?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">broke out<\/a> at the \u200bworld\u2019s largest iPhone factory \u2064in Zhengzhou, China, due to dissatisfaction with the Chinese government\u2019s strict \u201czero Covid\u201d\u200d protocol and poor living conditions inside \u200bthe\u2063 factory. The Chinese government sent \u200bpolice to crack down on protesters. The incident and delay in production likely \u200ccost Apple a shortfall of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/siladityaray\/2022\/11\/28\/apple-reportedly-faces-shortfall-of-6-million-iphones-amid-china-factory-protests\/?sh=bad0eb76814d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">6 million<\/a> of its flagship \u2062iPhone 14 \u2064and 14 Plus right around the holiday season.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ef1e5621ecc64baa0a64d6aa0947d3c4 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ef1e5621ecc64baa0a64d6aa0947d3c4\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New Phone Ban<\/h2>\n<p>If China\u2019s \u201czero Covid\u201d policy gave Apple a black eye, Beijing\u2019s iPhone ban was a gut punch\u2063 to the company. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/tech\/apple-becomes-the-biggest-u-s-china-pawn-yet-ad093256#:~:text=According%20to%20China's%20National%20Bureau,company%20specializing%20in%20premium%20devices.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According<\/a> to The Wall Street Journal, China has about 56 million state employees as of 2012, and \u2062they are more\u200b affluent than average because they \u201ccommanded an average wage about 8% above the \u200dnational urban average.\u201d And \u201cbecause Apple now ships roughly 230 million iPhones globally \u2063every year, 56 million would be a \u2063notable chunk to take \u2064out of\u2062 the pool \u200dof potential buyers \u2014 especially in a mature global smartphone market with low growth prospects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beijing claimed the iPhone ban was \u200cnecessary to enhance cybersecurity and \u200cprevent sensitive\u200b data from leaving \u2062China. But interestingly, Beijing\u2019s iPhone ban came around the time that China\u2019s telecom giant\u200d Huawei \u200breleased a new phone with 5G-like speeds and capabilities. One analyst estimates \u2063that between the iPhone ban and Huawei\u2019s latest \u200bphone release, Apple could lose 10 million iPhone\u200c shipments\u2062 in\u200b 2024.\u2062 It is highly\u200d possible that Beijing\u2019s iPhone ban and the timing of the announcement were also designed to fulfill party leader Xi Jinping\u2019s desire \u2063to achieve self-reliance in \u2062technical \u200dknow-how and to support Huawei, a\u2064 Chinese company with close\u200d military \u200cand government ties, at Apple\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n<p>Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/breakingviews\/apples-high-valuation-exposes-it-chinas-whims-2023-09-07\/#:~:text=China%20accounts%20for%2019%25%20of,that%20of%20the%20overall%20company.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">estimated<\/a> that Beijing\u2019s ban might \u200dcost \u2064Apple $19 \u200dbillion in revenue,\u2062 or almost $7 billion in\u2064 profit. Apple investors didn\u2019t take this news lightly. Apple\u2019s stock price \u2062dropped close to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/tech\/apple-becomes-the-biggest-u-s-china-pawn-yet-ad093256\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">7 percent<\/a> in two days and wiped out nearly $194 million of the company\u2019s market value. The reckoning of \u2063Cook\u2019s bet on China has finally arrived.\u200d It is worth asking whether Apple\u2019s kowtowing to the\u200c CCP was all worth it.<\/p>\n<p>Apple\u2019s\u2064 changing fortune in China should be\u200d a dire warning to other American companies \u2063still investing\u200b in the country without a\u2064 decoupling plan. As \u200bThe Wall Street Journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/tech\/apple-becomes-the-biggest-u-s-china-pawn-yet-ad093256\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pointed out<\/a>, \u201cfew companies\u2064 are\u200c safe if Apple isn\u2019t immune to\u2063 China\u2019s retaliation.\u201d Given China\u2019s growing repression and \u200cdeteriorating relations with the U.S., American \u200ccompanies must proactively \u2063plan alternatives to China\u2019s supply chains and the Chinese market.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b899946b966414eb3b11bc5bdff1e382 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b899946b966414eb3b11bc5bdff1e382\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apple&#8217;s CEO, Tim Cook, has shown significant support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, Beijing&#8217;s recent ban on state employees using foreign-branded smartphones, including the iPhone, has exposed the risks Cook and his company face due to their reliance on China. Despite previous welcome, Apple&#8217;s position in China is now uncertain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":536,"featured_media":2028924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2028923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2028923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/536"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2028923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2028923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2028924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2028923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2028923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2028923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}