Simple. Threaten to leave if China continues, put a strategy in place to leave, but stay in China for the current time.
Keep reminding the Chinese government every few weeks that if they are doing these phishing attacks, Apple will leave.
Any evidence at some point in the future that China is still doing this, which of course will happen at some point, leave immediately.
It's not too hard.
AFAIK there has only been an
accusation the MitM attacks are government sponsored. As of yet, I haven't seen definitive evidence.
It's simple in an internet forum to suggest Apple pull out because there are no consequences in our pretend world. In the real world? Not so simple. Above all else, Apple is a for profit company and they are drooling over the potential of the Chinese market. You don't get to become the 2nd most profitable company on the planet by leaving an emerging market (for Apple) with massive potential. The Chinese are obviously going to say it's not them; truthful or not. What's Tim going say, "I think you're lying" or better yet, "Prove you didn't do it."
The thought of Apple moving their infrastructure is a little comical. Some in this thread seem to think it's a simple process. The logistics would be staggering, not to mention the expertise of the workforce.
Tim will ask if they did it. They will say no.