Apple's Jeff Williams takes another secret overseas trip, this time to China

Apple's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams has been seen in Chinese state media photographs, meeting with senior officials in the country.

In May 2024, Jeff Williams went on what's been described as a secret visit to TSMC in Taiwan. It was secret in that neither Apple nor it chip maker either announced or apparently confirmed the visit, which was reported on by local media.

The meeting was said to be about securing TSMC's new 2-nanometer processor orders. Now according to Bloomberg, Williams and Micron Technology president Sanjay Mehrotra have made a similarly low-profile visit to Beijing.

Williams and Mehrotra were part of a US business delegation that met with Vice-Premier He Lifeng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Reportedly, the delegation was urged to "participate aggressively in China's further reform and modernization process."

Separately, the foreign minister held a meeting about China's economic plans, and said the country wanted members of the US-China Business Council to promote "a correct understanding" of China in America. It's not clear who attended this separate meeting, but Williams and Mehrotra are both directors of the Beijing-based US-China Business Council.

Neither of them were named as attending the main meeting, either. But they were subsequently both seen in photos of the group.

There's no reason Apple should advertise when its executives travel overseas, and the company never publicly releases Tim Cook's scheduled in advance. But US/China tensions continue and it appears that Williams is sometimes sent in Cook's place as the company balances its reliance on China with the pressure to cut its ties there.

Williams was similarly at Foxconn's 50th-anniversary celebrations in Taiwan in February 2024, as China/Taiwan tensions have also been elevated.