The head of Apple met with China’s top regulator in Beijing this week, days after the tech company found itself at the center of controversy over an app for Hong Kong protesters.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement its director, Xiao Yaqing, sat down with Apple CEO Tim Cook for a discussion on a “wide range of topics,” including “expanding investment and business development in China, protecting consumer rights and fulfilling corporate social responsibility.” Cook was in Beijing for an annual meeting at Tsinghua University, where he sits on the School of Economics and Management’s advisory board.
Cook’s meeting in Beijing came after Apple became embroiled in tensions between China and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong after it approved, then removed, an app that allowed the demonstrators to see the location of police in the semi-autonomous territory.
Apple first made the app, HKmap.live, available for download through its App Store, but the decision led to backlash from Chinese state media. The People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, published an op-ed lambasting the move by Apple, which it said was “providing a gateway for ‘toxic apps’” and helping Hong Kong protesters.
Apple then pulled HKmap.live from the App Store last week, prompting criticism from Republicans and Democrats who said the company was placing its business interests ahead of human rights. Cook defended the removal of the app last week, saying it was yanked from the App Store because it allowed users to target police, putting it in violation of Hong Kong law and Apple’s policies.
The meeting comes as the NBA faced pressure from China to limit statements about the country and Hong Kong by employees and video game company Blizzard Entertainment stripped a professional player’s prizes after he expressed support for the Hong Kong protesters in an interview.
China is a crucial market for Apple, as the company manufactures nearly all of its products there. For the nine months ending in June, Apple reported $32.5 billion in sales in the greater China region, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
