Apple's Tim Cook to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping during US tour
Apple CEO Tim Cook will be among numerous corporate leaders meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday during his first visit to the United States, amid concerns about a troubled Chinese economy and the possibility of a flashpoint over cybersecurity issues.

The meeting will be hosted in Seattle by the Paulson Institute, and include the heads of many other U.S. corporations. Among these are Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, Disney's Bob Iger, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella. Joining them will be executives from major Chinese businesses like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent.
President Xi is expected to delivery a policy speech, and the gathered business leaders will then participate in a roundtable to discuss economic ties, obstacles, and reforms.
The Chinese economy has been hard-hit in recent months, adding urgency to the gathering. The country is also at loggerheads with the U.S. over cybersecurity, particularly after U.S. President Barack Obama raised the possibility of sanctions. Chinese hackers are known to regularly infiltrate America's corporate and government networks. Some of the perpetrators are thought to be backed by the Chinese government, though Xi has denied this.
China has been worried about similar attacks on its home turf, and is further pressing foreign businesses to pledge compliance with a law that requires some local content to be "secure and controllable" -- potentially forcing companies to hand over sensitive data.
Apple could have a conflicted stance going into the meeting. While Cook has been vocal about maintaing the security of Apple platforms, his company is also highly dependent on the Chinese market, which is second only to the Americas in terms of revenue.

The meeting will be hosted in Seattle by the Paulson Institute, and include the heads of many other U.S. corporations. Among these are Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, Disney's Bob Iger, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella. Joining them will be executives from major Chinese businesses like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent.
President Xi is expected to delivery a policy speech, and the gathered business leaders will then participate in a roundtable to discuss economic ties, obstacles, and reforms.
The Chinese economy has been hard-hit in recent months, adding urgency to the gathering. The country is also at loggerheads with the U.S. over cybersecurity, particularly after U.S. President Barack Obama raised the possibility of sanctions. Chinese hackers are known to regularly infiltrate America's corporate and government networks. Some of the perpetrators are thought to be backed by the Chinese government, though Xi has denied this.
China has been worried about similar attacks on its home turf, and is further pressing foreign businesses to pledge compliance with a law that requires some local content to be "secure and controllable" -- potentially forcing companies to hand over sensitive data.
Apple could have a conflicted stance going into the meeting. While Cook has been vocal about maintaing the security of Apple platforms, his company is also highly dependent on the Chinese market, which is second only to the Americas in terms of revenue.
Comments
Oh I would love to be a fly on the wall for this one.
It's only a matter of time before Apple and China have a fall out IMO.
AAPL will take a beating with it.
It's only a matter of time before Apple and China have a fall out IMO.
AAPL will take a beating with it.
Apple should just pull out of China altogether.
Apple should just pull out of China altogether.
Then the Apple stock will fall indefinitely ~
Then the Apple stock will fall indefinitely ~
It won't just fall, it'll collapse.
The Gamesters of Wall St. need AAPL to be volatile, not fall indefinitely.
It's only a matter of time before Apple and China have a fall out IMO.
AAPL will take a beating with it.
Indeed. When it comes to dealing with the terrible China political machine, there are no "safe" positions.
They hack the US, the US hacks China back. We're the losers in this game.
That's true, but China steals so many corporate and military secrets. We are basically China's R&D department. Why would they spend billions in R&D when they can just steal it from the U.S. We need to do something about it. Unfortunately, the only way to stop them is by force.
Then the Apple stock will fall indefinitely ~
And what will it do if one day there is news that iOS and Apple's corporate computers have been compromised that all iOS devices have effectively been spying for the Chinese and phoning home for the past 6 months?
Apple could shift production to India or Brazil.
Not so different from Google and Microsoft over the years using Apple for their R&D department. Sadly that's the way the world works.
That said I'd like to see Tim ask for a closure of the fake Apple Stores selling fake i-devices in China, that's beyond the pale, even Google wouldn't do that! LOL
That's true, but China steals so many corporate and military secrets. We are basically China's R&D department. Why would they spend billions in R&D when they can just steal it from the U.S. We need to do something about it. Unfortunately, the only way to stop them is by force.
They also openly steal IP from other countries. For example, they reverse-engineered maglev technology from Europe to use in their high-speed train.
They also openly steal IP from other countries. For example, they reverse-engineered maglev technology from Europe to use in their high-speed train.
Yep. Did you read how the Chinese have been awarded a contract to build a rail link between Las Vegas and Los Angeles with trains built using everything they learned from the Japanese?
Though it can appear otherwise to some – most probably some Chinese people – pretty much all train dorks know that the reason China has near-Japan-level high-speed rail is because they entered into deals with Japan’s big train makers (Mitsubishi, Kawasaki, and Hitachi), then rather scandalously copied the tech, and were then like “Hey world, look what WE made!”
I still say China should be booted from the WTO (World Trade Organization) for their ongoing and rampant theft of IP and their state-sponsored military and corporate hacking. In fact, it could prove useful if their entire country's access to the Internet were severed for a few months.
I still say China should be booted from the WTO (World Trade Organization) for their ongoing and rampant theft of IP and their state-sponsored military and corporate hacking. In fact, it could prove useful if their entire country's access to the Internet were severed for a few months.
Back during Clinton's reign, I was hoping he would ban their imports and ban US companies from offshoring work there. I think it would have been doable then. Too late now for getting heavy with them at a state level, but individual corporations can still take a stand like Google did.