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China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

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Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#181

Post by rdtsc »

Scramblejams wrote: post #77
Despegar wrote: post #5

Apple will most likely be fine because it's unlike any other western company operating in China in that it employs a lot of people assembling their products. It's not in the CCP's interest for people to boycott Apple in a nationalist fervor only for unemployment to rise, which would be an existential threat to the CCP if they lost control of.

I doubt it. This is just, like, my opinion, man, but I think the Chinese would walk away from any company in the world in an instant if it suits their security needs. If their economic ministry is doing its job then they will have detailed contingency plans to address the loss of any of their major foreign benefactors, and if required those jobs can be replaced with state handouts, at least until the crisis passes. I…

> If their economic ministry is doing its job then they will have detailed contingency plans to address the loss of any of their major foreign benefactors, and if required those jobs can be replaced with state handouT-shirt

Why not already do it instead of taking the risk allowing Western companies undermining their state ideology? Does Apple transfer technology to them and they needed that?

I don’t see them easily recovering, in the PR sense after kicking Apple out. They are already in the defensive posture with HK protests, which they saw get out of hand. Concentration camps for Muslim minorities is a terrible PR disaster. If anything Apple is in a good position to squeeze more concessions and handouts out of them at this point. Even, say make a publicity stunt about opening a factory in Vietnam or moving it back to US.

Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#182

Post by enedil »

kwizzt wrote: post #128
fucking_tragedy wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the actual reaction of Chinese people on Weibo and other Chinese social media People are censored and punished for disagreeing with their government and its dictator-for-life.

Do you think I'm censored by posting in HN? Do you believe I'm a wumao? I'm here speaking out of my own free will. I'm in the US and I don't agree with a lot of what CCP has done, but in terms on NBA and Hong Kong issues, I can see the reason why Chinese people feel differently from Americans, and I sometimes feel the same.

If you can voice out your opinions only if they agree with the supported policy, then it's hard to tell that it's legitimate Chinese opinion. You are standing before a giant selection bias.

Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#183

Post by linolo »

CharlesColeman wrote: post #106
Despegar wrote: post #5

Apple will most likely be fine because it's unlike any other western company operating in China in that it employs a lot of people assembling their products. It's not in the CCP's interest for people to boycott Apple in a nationalist fervor only for unemployment to rise, which would be an existential threat to the CCP if they lost control of.

> Apple will most likely be fine because it's unlike any other western company operating in China in that it employs a lot of people assembling their products. It's not in the CCP's interest for people to boycott Apple in a nationalist fervor only for unemployment to rise, which would be an existential threat to the CCP if they lost control of. The CCP isn't going to compromise on its core authoritarian and nationali…

> The CCP isn't going to compromise on its core authoritarian and nationalist values over a piddling concern about the unemployment caused by one Western company leaving. Apple's not that important,

Well yes Apple alone isn’t large enough to cause a major problem for the CCP but it does set a precedent for every other western company operating in China. It could very well spiral into an exodus of manufacturing from China

Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#184

Post by Raymonf »

dkonofalski wrote: post #48
vermontdevil wrote: post #36

Apple is going to cave. And it’ll set a worse precedent because other governments are going to demand backdoors etc.

If Apple didn't cave to the US government, what makes you think they're going to cave to China?

Apple hid the flag of Taiwan/ROC flag for users in Macau and Hong Kong, and changed the name of Taiwan in Siri to 「中國台灣」 (Taiwan, China).

This is a new change with iOS 13.1.x and 13.2.

Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#185

Post by tanilama »

GeekyBear wrote: post #146
Scramblejams wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it. This is just, like, my opinion, man, but I think the Chinese would walk away from any company in the world in an instant if it suits their security needs. If their economic ministry is doing its job then they will have detailed contingency plans to address the loss of any of their major foreign benefactors, and if required those jobs can be replaced with state handouts, at least until the crisis passes. I…

Samsung certainly went from having a large market share in China to being an also ran that abandoned Chinese manufacturing after state led boycotts of their products as a response to South Korea allowing a ballistic missile defense system to be installed on their soil. As I recall, buying local brands instead was framed as patriotism.

That is again a myth. Before Thaad Samsung's share is already shrinking.

The milestone being Note 7 explosion, they refused to offer the same refund package that they offered to the world outside China, and actually accusing some users microven the phone for fraud...

And it blows up. No one wants to be treat as idiots.

Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#186

Post by StudentStuff »

derf_ wrote: post #147
Scramblejams wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d hope what's happening now is already enough for everyone to reevaluate those risks! In any case, threatening to shut Apple down wouldn’t be a message that you can’t do business in China, just that everybody, no matter how big, needs to toe the line. Do that, and you won’t have any problems.

> everybody, no matter how big, needs to toe the line. Do that, and you won’t have any problems. And maybe you're fine with that today. But once you've ceded that ground, what happens when they move the line? Because they always move the line.

As technology and finances have enabled China's expanding authoritarianism, they have broken new ground with:

- Mandatory state written malware for phones and computers,

- "AI" for tracking people in public, at schools and businesses

- Prevalent speed and crosswalk cameras to enforce traffic laws that their own police force fails to write tickets for.

Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#187

Post by throwaway2048 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #73
makapuf wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good luck producing iPhones without the chips, which are not made in China and have at most a few weeks worth of stock, I'd guess.

> Good luck producing iPhones without the chips They wouldn't produce iPhones without the chips. They'd just keep running the lines. Apple has limited leverage in threatening to walk away from China.

The vast majority of the chips are not made in china, there are no "lines" for them to run.

Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#188

Post by [deleted] »

CharlesColeman wrote: post #106
Despegar wrote: post #5

Apple will most likely be fine because it's unlike any other western company operating in China in that it employs a lot of people assembling their products. It's not in the CCP's interest for people to boycott Apple in a nationalist fervor only for unemployment to rise, which would be an existential threat to the CCP if they lost control of.

> Apple will most likely be fine because it's unlike any other western company operating in China in that it employs a lot of people assembling their products. It's not in the CCP's interest for people to boycott Apple in a nationalist fervor only for unemployment to rise, which would be an existential threat to the CCP if they lost control of. The CCP isn't going to compromise on its core authoritarian and nationali…

[deleted]

Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#189

Post by mikenew »

0xffff2 wrote: post #142
_bxg1 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always accepted their walled-garden philosophy as a security measure, but you know, I'm realizing that it doesn't have to be either-or. They can continue to hold App Store listings to high standards of security and quality, and I'll continue to use it when that's what I want, while allowing people the option of side-loading at their own risk. Most of the problems with malicious apps on Android don't happen becau…

The trouble is that if you provide a mechanism to side-load, people will be convinced to use it without understanding the risks they are taking. See also the recent issues with MDM. In that sense, it kind of is either/or for the average user.

Is side-loading really that common for an Android user? It hardly seems widespread. Certainly not for your average, tech-illiterate consumer.

Re: China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app

#190

Post by K0SM0S »

dkonofalski wrote: post #46
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the iPhone is as much someone's identity now as it is a product.

Even as a pretty heavy Apple user, I feel so sorry for people that have to identify with a product. If someone asked me to describe myself, my choice in computer/phone/whatever would not be a part of that description.

Not a device or product but open-source though... for me as a dev, or tech nerd, or advocate of freedoms / defender of rights, or just as an aware citizen, you know... open-source matters to a fundamental layer of our digital-izing civilization.
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