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A24 HEALTH
Tuesday 15 OcTOber 2019
Apple has a lot to lose if it crosses China's party bosses

HONG KONG (AP) — Under of the protesters. China's
pressure from China, Apple state TV canceled broad-
has removed a smartphone casts of NBA games.
app that enabled Hong One of the police-tracking
Kong protesters to track po- app's users, Hong Kong of-
lice. It has cut off access in fice worker Acko Wong, 26,
mainland China to a news scoffed at the suggestion
app that extensively cov- that the app helped give
ered the anti-government free rein to criminals.
demonstrations. And it has "How do you ambush a
made it harder to find an group of police with equip-
emoji representing the Tai- ment and gear like helmets
wanese national flag. and shields?" he asked.
The tech company's latest Sharing the skepticism were
acts of capitulation to Chi- U.S. politicians like Sen. Josh
na's ruling Communist Party Hawley, a Missouri Republi-
have alienated some Hong can who tweeted criticism
Kong consumers and an- of the company Thursday:
gered democracy activists "Who is really running Ap-
around the world. But the ple? Tim Cook or Beijing?"
truth is, few U.S. companies Apple didn't reply to
have as much of their busi- emailed requests to explain
ness tethered to China as other recent measures criti-
Apple. A person's phone shows HKmap.live apps as they join others at a rally to mark Taiwan's National cized as caving in to China.
"That's the price you pay if Day, in the Tsim Sha Tsui district in Hong Kong, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. The company cut off main-
you want to be in the mar- Associated Press land access to the news
ket," said Matt Schrader, website Quartz, which has
a China analyst for the in retaliation for U.S. tariffs taliatory action from China pressure from various chan- covered the Hong Kong
Alliance for Securing De- on Chinese products and could cut Apple's profit 10% nels, including the Commu- protests. CEO Zach Seward
mocracy at the German sanctions against Huawei, to 20%. That would translate nist Party newspaper Peo- denounced "this kind of
Marshall Fund. "You have the Chinese telecommuni- into a loss of $6 billion to ple's Daily, which asked: "Is government censorship of
to abide by demands to cations equipment giant. $12 billion in a single year, Apple guiding Hong Kong the internet." The news app
censor information: any- Apple CEO Tim Cook has based on Apple's profits thugs?" was still available in Hong
thing that paints the party spent much of the past last year. Hong Kong's crisis has put Kong.
or its history, or its top lead- year walking a thin line, Apple defended its deci- pressure on those doing Apple also recently re-
ers, in an unflattering light, trying to prod a truce be- sion Thursday to pull the business with China to take moved an emoji repre-
or disagrees with their pre- tween the U.S. and China police-tracking HKmap.live sides. The protests were senting the Taiwanese flag
ferred portrayal of China as while also trying to protect from its online app store. triggered by a now-aban- — which China doesn't rec-
a country." his company's interests. For some people in Hong doned government plan ognize — from the virtual
Apple relies on Chinese fac- His efforts so far have large- Kong, the app was a handy to allow criminal suspects keyboard of its smartphone
tories to assemble iPhones, ly paid off, helping to shield tool that helped steer them to be extradited for trial operating system in Hong
which generate most of the iPhone from being hit away from possible baton in Communist Party-con- Kong and Macau. The
the company's profits. Ap- by tariffs in either the U.S. charges, volleys of tear gas trolled courts in mainland emoji could still be found if
ple has also cultivated a or China. But that could and police ID checks. China. It has escalated users searched for it.
loyal following in the coun- change in mid-December, But the company said the into a broader battle over The latest moves are on
try. China has emerged as when the Trump admin- app "has been used to tar- Beijing's efforts to curb the top of Beijing's previous de-
the company's third-largest istration has promised to get and ambush police" Western-style civil liberties mands that Apple remove
market behind the U.S. and expand import duties on and "threaten public safe- and autonomy promised virtual private network
Europe, accounting for 20% more consumer electron- ty." to the former British colony apps from its online store in
of its sales during its past fis- ics. "Criminals have used it to when it returned to China China. China has sought to
cal year. With the specter of those victimize residents in areas in 1997. tighten control over VPNs,
President Donald Trump's tariffs, Apple has even more where they know there is Beijing's criticism of Apple which create encrypted
trade war with China has of an incentive to placate no law enforcement," Ap- followed government at- links between computers
already complicated China's government and ple said. "This app violates tacks last weekend on the and can be used to see
things for Apple, raising avoid provoking Beijing. our guidelines and local NBA over a tweet by the blocked websites that the
fears that Beijing will impose In a worst-case scenario, laws." general manager of the government has deemed
measures to hurt Apple analysts have estimated re- Thursday's move followed Houston Rockets in support subversive.q

Despite defections, Facebook officially launches Libra

By KEN SWEET nonprofit that will gov- tercard and PayPal. ciation include Uber, Lyft, when it unveiled plans to
NEW YORK (AP) — Face- ern the currency, officially Most of the remaining Spotify and European tele- create a separate, private
book officially moved for- signed on 21 charter mem- members of the Libra As- communications company currency system to allow
ward with its plans Monday bers on Monday at the sociation consist of venture Vodafone. The association users to make cross-border
to create a new digital cur- organization's inaugural capital firms, who often said in a statement that an payments more easily. Poli-
rency called Libra, despite meeting in Geneva. Origi- have an eye on emerging unnamed additional 180 ticians have said they be-
several high-profile defec- nally the Libra Association technologies and align with entities have expressed in- lieve Facebook's struggles
tions from the project and had 27 potential mem- Facebook's interests, as terest and have met the ini- with protecting users' pri-
intense criticism from U.S. bers, but several compa- well as nonprofits. But some tial requirements to join. vacy would spill over into
regulators and politicians. nies dropped out in recent larger companies who are Facebook has faced criti- Libra, despite it being a
The Libra Association, the days, including Visa, Mas- now members of the asso- cism since the summer separate organization.q