China lambastes Apple, others for 'incorrect' references to Hong Kong & Taiwan
A think tank linked to the Chinese government is criticizing Apple, Amazon, Nike and other foreign companies for using "incorrect labels" in reference to Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Apple's Taipei 101 store is considered part of China on its website, but not in Apple Maps.
Of the world's 500 biggest corporations, 66 are mislabeling Taiwan, 53 are mislabeling Hong Kong, and 45 are guilty of both, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a report seen by Reuters. The study, still not public, was done in conjunction with the Internet Development Research Institution at Peking University.
China has been intensifying pressure on foreign companies since last year, hoping to get them to legitimize its view of the above territories.
Once controlled as a British colony, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 but still exists as a semi-autonomous region. Apple and others often treat it as distinct from China, mostly since it has its own currency and a unique market, and most of its residents speak Cantonese instead of Mandarin.
More contentious is Taiwan. Though it has existed as an independent entity for decades, the Chinese government considers it a rogue province and has threatened military force if it formally declares independence. China also refuses diplomatic relations with countries that recognize the Taiwanese republic, though in practice most of the world's biggest powers have informal relations, including the U.S. -- whose military commitments have kept China at bay.
Apple maintains separate websites for both Hong Kong and Taiwan. It does make references to Taiwan as being part of China on the Web, but at least in the U.S. version of Apple Maps the country's capital, Taipei, is marked as independent.
The company has often tread a thin line between appeasing China versus recognizing reality and living up to its stated principles. Critics have accused Apple of being too quick to bend to government demands, and turning a blind eye to human rights abuses despite claiming to champion them elsewhere. This is presumably because of the size of the Chinese market, even with increasingly disappointing iPhone sales contributing to a $5 billion shortfall in December-quarter revenue.
Apple's Taipei 101 store is considered part of China on its website, but not in Apple Maps.
Of the world's 500 biggest corporations, 66 are mislabeling Taiwan, 53 are mislabeling Hong Kong, and 45 are guilty of both, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a report seen by Reuters. The study, still not public, was done in conjunction with the Internet Development Research Institution at Peking University.
China has been intensifying pressure on foreign companies since last year, hoping to get them to legitimize its view of the above territories.
Once controlled as a British colony, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 but still exists as a semi-autonomous region. Apple and others often treat it as distinct from China, mostly since it has its own currency and a unique market, and most of its residents speak Cantonese instead of Mandarin.
More contentious is Taiwan. Though it has existed as an independent entity for decades, the Chinese government considers it a rogue province and has threatened military force if it formally declares independence. China also refuses diplomatic relations with countries that recognize the Taiwanese republic, though in practice most of the world's biggest powers have informal relations, including the U.S. -- whose military commitments have kept China at bay.
Apple maintains separate websites for both Hong Kong and Taiwan. It does make references to Taiwan as being part of China on the Web, but at least in the U.S. version of Apple Maps the country's capital, Taipei, is marked as independent.
The company has often tread a thin line between appeasing China versus recognizing reality and living up to its stated principles. Critics have accused Apple of being too quick to bend to government demands, and turning a blind eye to human rights abuses despite claiming to champion them elsewhere. This is presumably because of the size of the Chinese market, even with increasingly disappointing iPhone sales contributing to a $5 billion shortfall in December-quarter revenue.
Comments
Last year in Hong Kong the Hong Kong National Party got banned for nothing more than being pro-independence on a peaceful political level; simply having those pro-democracy thoughts were enough for China to ban them due to "national security concerns". And they weren't even a new movement, but rather it was China working harder on getting Hong Kong to become more tightly integrated with the mainland.
No matter what ones thoughts might be about these regions, and what would be best for them and/or mainland China, one can't ignore the fact that the world is keeping quiet because of nothing else than their fear/desire of Chinese capital.
As long as the person being ethnically Chinese other countries have even been very quiet about their citizens being arrested and/or disappeared in China; like with these Hong Kong booksellers that were an inconvenience to some high-ranking Chinese political leaders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappearances.
Modern day China's claims to regions isn't even based on their traditional lands as much as them wanting all lands that any previous dynasty controlled.
For instance there's Tibet, which historically speaking has been an area inhabited not by Han people, but by Tibetans, Monpa, Tamang, Qiang, Sherpa, and Lhoba… But being a smaller weaker region they've either been controlled by the Han or the Mongols.
As far as Taiwan… that's essentially a region that the "new China" (in this meaning essentially referring to the Chinese Communist Party) failed to occupy and control as they came to power. Meaning that the modern day China/the Chinese Communist Party never has ruled over Taiwan; as Taiwan is the last remnants of the Republic of China (which basically started with the Xinhai revolution, and ended when the communists took control).
So… is it really reasonable to accept the current mainland Chinese political rulers "historical" claims to all the regions that they say currently belong to them?
The biggest regret China will have is the day it tries taking over Taiwan.
The iPhone is assembled there. That doesn’t necessarily mean “made” there, since assembly is a pretty low value-added activity (especially given the abundantly available cheap Chinese labor).
Meanwhile first world countries chased the services industries, which somehow morphed into being more and more dependent on tax dollars through government contracts. Tax dollars from future tax payers. It won’t end well.
The whole thing cannot move overnight, but it’s starting to. The next few years are probably going to see a major retooling of the global manufacturing supply chain.
As to your second para, I don’t follow what your saying.