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Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Secretly' Signed $275 Billion Deal With China in 2016
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I disagree with some of their practices and I agree with others. This isn’t black and white, there’s room for nuance. Most companies do some things that I like and some things that I don’t, and Apple on the whole tends to come out near the top of the pile, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about everything they do.
If China gives the green light to CSAM it will be implemented and Apple will willingly give them the source code so they can add more criteria like political dissent imagery for example. China could share CSAM technology with other like-minded countries like Iran that could start scanning for gay content for example.
Americans will accept all their own atrocities as long as they have the right to protest and shoot people with guns
Working closely with Chinese govt should be viewed like working closely with Nazis. The Chinese people are amazing but they have an evil and corrupt govt that is running ethnic prison camps.
Nothing will come of this. Look at Apple's stock prices. Why do you think they're worth so much? They sold their soul to China and made a killing doing it. Who didn't think this was happening behind the scenes? This is just a clear look at how it works.
Would Jobs have been any different? Who knows!
Would Jobs have been any different? Who knows!
Tim Cook, Hypocrite.
Par for the Apple Course.
China, the land of forced abortions, concentration camps, subjugating Hong Kong, threatening Taiwan, lying about contagious diseases, and endless environmental disaster.
It is well past time to get out of the Apple Infrastructure.
Par for the Apple Course.
China, the land of forced abortions, concentration camps, subjugating Hong Kong, threatening Taiwan, lying about contagious diseases, and endless environmental disaster.
It is well past time to get out of the Apple Infrastructure.
There's an interesting audiobook called None Dare Call it Conspiracy. An eye opener.
Oh wow, there are so many conflicting thoughts I have on this. On the negative side, the US politicians from both parties are going to hate this, as they have been publicly competing on who sounds tougher on China, and our American business success story (Apple) is showing a different path. Tim Cook will no longer be considered as a candidate for President! Like he cares about that, LOL. Shareholders may find some relief in this, as there have been concerns about China putting the clamps on Apples supply lines. It doesn’t mean much to us, the consumers, although we want to believe that Apple invests as much in the USA as they do anywhere else. Apple may want to show that in response to this story. Last, increased economic interdependence makes our relations a non-zero sum game, probably good if we want to avoid war with China in the long term.
Taiwan was a genocidal police dictatorship with like a 60 long curfew (KMT is still a big party in Taiwan) yet was allowed to modernize to modern democracy, Korea was a military dictatorship until modernization into a modern democracy, and Japan is still an Emperor powered dictatorship but modernized into a modern democracy under US rule. Singapore is pretty much a single party dicatorship but modernized into a democracy. All of these countries modernized and flourished.
China's coastal provinces are all modernized and people there live life like in a modern democratic society, and often enjoy the freedoms of a modern democracy. It's China's fridge provinces like tibet and xinjiang which were originally autonomous regions (ie, no influence from CCP) that are totally in low GDP and pulling the country down. Now the CCP is paying attention to them and modernizing, the west is trying to stop them.
China cannot modernize and become like these modern democratic societies because a modernized Chinese democracy would be at least a 5x economic power over the Americans, Europeans and others, and this cannot happen.
That's the truth, the rest of you here are pawns of the current status quo and most of the anti-ccp rhetoric is trying to stop China from continuously rising.
China's coastal provinces are all modernized and people there live life like in a modern democratic society, and often enjoy the freedoms of a modern democracy. It's China's fridge provinces like tibet and xinjiang which were originally autonomous regions (ie, no influence from CCP) that are totally in low GDP and pulling the country down. Now the CCP is paying attention to them and modernizing, the west is trying to stop them.
China cannot modernize and become like these modern democratic societies because a modernized Chinese democracy would be at least a 5x economic power over the Americans, Europeans and others, and this cannot happen.
That's the truth, the rest of you here are pawns of the current status quo and most of the anti-ccp rhetoric is trying to stop China from continuously rising.
Makes me wonder what kind of signed agreements that Apple has in place with the several 3 letter agencies in the US Govt.
This is what the book author warns us again:
- Establish an income tax system as a means of extorting money from the common man;
- Establish a central bank, deceptively named so that people will think it is part of the government;
- Have this bank be the holder of the national debt;
- Run the national debt, and the interest thereon, sky high through wars (or any sort of deficit spending), starting with World War I.[11]
Sorry the book idea triggered you. The author could be a communist in disguise.. who really knows. Nevertheless it's an interesting book whether we agree or not on the content.
Curious if you have walked your own talk and do not use any products made or assembled in China?
"we want to improve the world and people's lives" says the company who does business with genocidal ethnostates like china and israel
Spot-on. Corporations or people in the US should not influence, advocate or pressure governments in other countries regarding their conduct. That's the domain of the US Department of State, and is covered by The Logan Act.
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Apple props themselves up as a socially responsible company. Tim directly involves himself, when it suits him.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is forging an unusual path as a social activist
"The Apple chief executive, 54, penned a sharply worded opinion piece that ran Sunday in which he condemned a slew of "pro-discrimination" legislation pending in several states. The so-called religious objection bills would allow people to legally discriminate against others, such as by citing their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer."
Apple launches major new Racial Equity and Justice Initiative projects to challenge systemic racism, advance racial equity nationwide
Apple’s $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative launches new projects that fight educational and economic inequity.
www.apple.com
Tim Cook speaks: On cross burnings, gay rights, immigration | Fortune
Auburn University posted his 13-minute speech on YouTube Saturday.
Now let's see him do the same thing with Uyghur Muslims.
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Apple props themselves up as a socially responsible company. Tim directly involves himself, when it suits him.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is forging an unusual path as a social activist
www.baltimoresun.com
"The Apple chief executive, 54, penned a sharply worded opinion piece that ran Sunday in which he condemned a slew of "pro-discrimination" legislation pending in several states. The so-called religious objection bills would allow people to legally discriminate against others, such as by citing their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer."
Now let's see him do the same thing with Uyghur Muslims.
"The Apple chief executive, 54, penned a sharply worded opinion piece that ran Sunday in which he condemned a slew of "pro-discrimination" legislation pending in several states. The so-called religious objection bills would allow people to legally discriminate against others, such as by citing their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer."
"Now let's see him do the same thing with Uyghur Muslims."
That would be against US law.
China has played the long game well and the writing is on the wall - they are the next super power, of course you need to cosy up with the centre of global manafacturing. This is just business whether you agree with human rights issues (horrors) or not. China has heavily invested/debted many countries around the world so our reliance on them will continue to increase year on year.
The Chinese know how to rein in these mega corporations. The US government should do the exact same thing. Of course, it will never happen. Because, you know, "capitalism."
I see some complaining here about Chinese human rights record. But its not like the USA has any great track record on human rights. Just ask the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. So, while China does deserve criticism, you have to hate the game not the player. And the Chinese are just playing the game a lot better than the West right now.
I see some complaining here about Chinese human rights record. But its not like the USA has any great track record on human rights. Just ask the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. So, while China does deserve criticism, you have to hate the game not the player. And the Chinese are just playing the game a lot better than the West right now.
It's ridiculous that major corporations are allowed to pander to other countries all the stuff should be built here it's ridiculous that he even thinks that's OK.
Apple CEO Tim Cook "secretly" signed an agreement worth more than $275 billion with Chinese officials, promising that Apple would help to develop China's economy and technological capabilities, The Information reports.
In an extensive paywalled report based on interviews and purported internal Apple documents, The Information revealed that Tim Cook personally forged a five-year agreement with the Chinese government during a series of in-person visits to the country in 2016. The need to push for a closer alliance with the Chinese government reportedly came from a number of Apple executives who were concerned about bad publicity in China and the company's poor relationship with Chinese officials, who believed that Apple was not contributing enough to the local economy.
Alleged internal documents show that Cook "personally lobbied officials" in China over threats made against Apple Pay, iCloud, and the App Store. Cook set out to use a "memorandum of understanding" between Apple and a powerful Chinese government agency called the National Development and Reform Commission to formally agree to a number of concessions in return for regulatory exemptions. The 1,250-word agreement was written by Apple's government affairs team in China and stewarded by Cook as he met with Chinese officials.
In May 2016, Cook announced that Apple would be investing $1 billion in the Chinese ride-hailing startup Didi Chuxing in a pointed attempt to mollify authorities, the report added. Shortly after, Cook, Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, and government affairs head Lisa Jackson met with senior government officials in Zhongnanhai, the central headquarters of the Communist Party of China.
Cook's negotiations led to the successful signing of the multibillion-dollar agreement, quashing a number of regulatory actions against the company with exemptions and enabling access to the Chinese market, in return for significant investments, business deals, and worker training in the country.
The agreement included a pledge from Apple to help Chinese manufacturers develop "the most advanced manufacturing technologies," "support the training of high-quality Chinese talents," use more components from Chinese suppliers, sign deals with Chinese software firms, collaborate with research in Chinese universities, and directly invest in Chinese tech companies, as well as assistance with around a dozen Chinese government causes. If there were no objections from either side, the deal would be automatically be extended for an additional year until May 2022, according to the agreement.
Apple vowed to invest "many billions of dollars more" than its current expenditure in China, including on new retail stores, research and development facilities, and renewable energy projects. Other internal documents reportedly showed that Apple's pledge amounted to more than $275 billion in spending over a period of five years.
The Information suggests that Apple is heavily reliant on Cook for international negotiations and speculates that it could face difficulties dealing with government affairs when Cook stands down as the company's CEO.
For more information, see The Information's full report.
Article Link: Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Secretly' Signed $275 Billion Deal With China in 2016
