Over the past few weeks, we have closely followed the huge controversy that Apple has gotten into China when banned, backtracked the decision and then banned again an app used by citizens of Hong Kong to organize protests and avoid police presence.
Ma seemed to displease all parties to the controversy, choosing ultimately to follow Beijing's directions; Tim Cook himself has been in the Wall Pas to discuss some issues with the head of China's state asset regulator, Xiao Yaqing.
The meeting, published on the Chinese website itself and highlighted by Reuters, did not have many details disclosed. However, it is well known that Cook and Yaqing discussed issues such as Apple's growing investments in China, consumer rights protection and corporate social responsibility.
It is not clear, on the other hand, whether the executive and the regulator ever talked about Hong Kong politics; In an official statement issued by China's Foreign Ministry last week, Beijing said it was pleased with Apple's decision, while Cook justified banning HKmap.live with information (later questioned) that the app was being used to leverage assaults on police officers and vandalism.
It is worth noting that the Cook and Yaqing meeting comes shortly after (more) a controversy involving Apple and the eastern country, when it turned out that Safari would be sending information from the Chinese company users. Tencent. In addition, another controversy recently rose to the spotlight when Ma removed the Taiwanese flag emoji from Macs sold in China.
That is, it is highly unlikely that Cook's meeting was held just to discuss the officially publicized matters. As China being one of the most important markets for Apple, it is believed that the executive has exercised all his diplomatic function to cool the controversies and continue to maintain a good relationship with Beijing. We all know what happened to Google in Chinese territory. .
As for the merits of this good friendship, this is another story.
via AppleInsider
