Congress members demand Apple exit China in letter to Tim Cook

By Wesley Hilliard

Four members of Congress sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook urging the company reassess its business dealings with China.

Congress members urge Apple to exit China

The spotlight is back on Apple's relationship with China after a report suggested Apple makes many compromises with the Chinese government to violate the citizen's privacy. Apple relies on China not only for its retail business, but for its manufacturing and supply chain as well.

Four members of Congress, Ken Buck, Scott Fitzgerald, Burgess Owens, and Dan Bishop signed a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking Apple to end its "near total capitulation to the communist regime in China." The letter describes Apples relationship with the Chinese government as a contradiction to Apple's core values of holding privacy as a fundamental human right.

According to a report from the New York Times Apple not only complies with Chinese demands, they actively participate in the violation of user privacy. From giving data center control to a government controlled facility to removing apps that the government doesn't agree with, Apple is complicit.

Apple says that they follow laws of local governments and only hand over data when properly presented with government requests. Apple denies that it has given unrestricted access to user data and in fact uses even stronger data encryption and data control methods to keep the data safe.

The letter was shared in a tweet from Representative Ken Buck. It concludes urging apple to "consider Apple's position as a pawn in China's malfeasance and take the necessary actions to separate your company from the Chinese government's abuses of its people, international peace and stability, and democratic principles of freedom and equality."

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