Colorado Rep. Ken Buck and three other Republicans expressed outrage at Apple’s continued business dealings with China in a letter sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“Apple users in China have zero protections against the Chinese government’s use of their data stored by the company, and instead of working to counter this problematic reality, Apple continues to concede to the Chinese government’s demands,” Buck, North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop, Utah Rep. Burgess Owens, and Wisconsin Rep. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in the Thursday letter, obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller.
Buck frequently raises concerns about big tech companies for their connections to China. He was a key supporter of then-President Donald Trump’s short-lived TikTok ban, and pressed Google CEO Sundar Pichai during a July 2020 hearing about the company’s development of artificial intelligence in China. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Buck Demands Answers On Apple’s Relationship With Companies Accused Of Using Forced Labor)
“As your company has compromised its users and supply chains in China, Apple has entwined itself with the very rights abuses it claims to oppose. Apple’s gradual and near-total capitulation to the communist regime in China in its storage of user data under the CCP’s express legal jurisdiction, censorship of its App Store in China, and in other areas is confounding,” the letter continues.
Apple is currently lobbying against a bill that would prevent American companies from using forced labor in the Xinjiang region. Seven of Apple’s Chinese suppliers have been accused of using forced labor.
“We urge you 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,” the members conclude.
Read the full letter here:
05.20.2021 Letter to Tim Co… by Michael Ginsberg
“I’m deeply concerned by Apple’s relationship with the Chinese government and the company’s willingness to comply with the Chinese government’s demands,” Buck told the Daily Caller. “Apple has compromised its self-proclaimed commitment to privacy, security, and ownership rights and essentially enabled the Chinese government to spy on its citizens.”