Apple has complied with the government of China’s censorship demands in order
to operate there.
Just last month, the company admitted to removing 517 apps in China at the
request of the government. That's in addition to the 600 "virtual private
network" apps (VPNs) Apple confessed to blocking in 2017.
Without VPNs and with the enormous surveillance machine of the government of
China, it's almost impossible for activists to evade censorship and
surveillance in order to report human rights abuses when they are committed,
without putting themselves in even greater danger. Apple is complicit in that.
Tell Apple to drop China’s censorship act and commit to upholding human dignity
and political freedom.
And while Apple is doing business with government officials, Uyghur Muslims who
were detained in the government’s so-called ‘re-education’ camps report being
abused, forced to learn Mandarin and undergo political indoctrination.
Uyghur families are also being forced to welcome government officials to stay
in their homes for up to one week per month. These live-in officials require
families to provide detailed information on their personal lives and political
views, and subject them to "political education".
Of course, the government of China is no stranger to brutal repression. It has
committed large scale human rights abuses against the Tibetan people for
decadesusing the same argument -- combating extremism and terrorism -- that
it’s using to justify mass detention and surveillance of Uyghur Muslims now.
Are Apple's profits more important than the lives of the millions of Uyghurs,
Tibetans and Chinese rights activists surveilled and detained?
Demand Apple protect its users from the government of China's censorship and
surveillance.
The timing is perfect. Amid the trade wars, Apple has already started phasing
out some of its production in China--which opens up the opportunity to return
to the negotiating table.
We know that you can make a real difference--just as you have done with Google.
Around 86,000 SumOfUs members around the world--just like you--demanded that
Google drop its controversial Dragonfly Project, a censored search engine tool
for China. And Google listened! The CEO Sundar Pichai made a clear public
statement that there are “no plans” to relaunch in China and that “we [Google]
are not spending time on it.”
This was a huge victory that we can push with Apple also. But you must act now!
Tell Apple to ditch the censorship act and protect free expression, now!
SIGN THE PETITION
Thanks for all that you do,
Sondhya, Reem and the team at SumOfUs
More information:
Apple pulls hundreds of apps from China after requests from Beijing, The
Telegraph, 3 July 2019.
Apple reveals App Store takedown demands by government, TechCrunch, 2 July 2019.
New site exposes how Apple censors apps in China, The Intercept, 1 February
2019.
Sent from my iPhone
On 3 Aug 2019, at 2:01 pm, ozemail.com.au <mindquest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well said lam yang
Let’s follow the way of fascist Marxism and surveillance and control one
third of the world
It is dangerous to be too liberal!!!
Students may want freedom of speech!!
Here at Global peace harmony we do not want this !!
I agree - let’s control the masses and if they don’t comply we will get the
garrison to shoot all the students down
Hail to The Great Chinese Totalitarian State
Dr Michael Ellis
Sent from my iPhone
On 3 Aug 2019, at 12:34 pm, Lana Yang (Redacted sender "lanayang" for DMARC)
<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201908/03/WS5d44c685a310cf3e35563abb.html
Overseas interests blamed for HK turmoil
<5d44d5e1a310cf3e979524ee.jpeg>
Rita Fan Hsu Laitai, former Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of
the National People's Congress. [Photo/China Daily]
Ex-legislator targets US, 'pro-Taiwan independence' forces and liberal
studies
The United States and "pro-Taiwan independence" forces are to blame for
recent turmoil in Hong Kong, according to a former Hong Kong member of the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, who said links
between the violent vandals and external forces have surfaced.
The observation by Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, who served in the nation's top
legislature, came after repeated protests over a now-suspended extradition
bill in the past two months.
The ulterior motive is to throw Hong Kong into major turmoil, the former
president of the Legislative Council told China Daily in an exclusive
interview on Thursday.
"When Hong Kong is in a chaotic state, the US can unsettle China, while
people from Taiwan in favor of independence will say 'one country, two
systems' is not applicable to Taiwan because it is a failure in Hong Kong,"
Fan said.
"Due to the rapid rise of China, the US always sees China as a big threat.
If Hong Kong is unsettled, the city will lose its functions of contributing
to the nation's development, with the trade dispute being one of the US
tactics to unsettle China.
"In addition, the US and other Western powers can criticize China for not
doing well enough to maintain implementation of 'one country, two systems'
unchanged for 50 years," she said.
Thus, Fan said it was not strange that some people from Taiwan were
assisting and financing the violent protesters.
The city was in shock after masked radical protesters escalated violence on
July 1 by storming into the city's legislature and vandalizing the complex,
resulting in an early recess of the legislature and costing about HK$40
million to HK$50 million ($5.1 million to $6.4 million) to repair.
One of the lawless intruders, who took off his mask, was identified as a
"pro-Hong Kong independence" graduate of the University of Hong Kong and
reportedly fled to the US through Taiwan.
It was also reported by the media that a large group of violent rioters had
fled to Taiwan to seek asylum shortly after July 1. Taiwan leader Tsai
Ing-wen described them as "friends from Hong Kong" and said the Taiwan
authorities would consider their applications for asylum on humanitarian
grounds.
Fan said the violent protesters, who were manipulated by external
influences, intended to provoke and test the bottom line of the central
government by attacking the Legislative Council, the building of the
Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR and defacing
the national emblem.
The recent mayhem has also caused some to call into question liberal
studies in the city.
In the wake of the violent attack on July 1, Tung Chee-hwa, vice-chairman
of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference, China's top advisory body, called liberal studies a total
failure.
The design of liberal studies is flawed, Fan said, since there are no
syllabuses or textbooks. It is up to the teachers to prepare teaching
materials for students, Fan said.
Currently, liberal studies is a compulsory subject and examinations also
are required.
"If students want to make high marks, they must follow what the teachers
teach them and adapt to the style of the examination papers. In case the
liberal studies teachers have strong political inclinations, they will
instill anti-China and anti-establishment ideas in the mind of students."
Fan's worries have been backed by recent cases of several liberal studies
teachers who were found to have posted messages full of hatred for the
city's police force, according to reports. Some even cursed the children of
police officers, reports said.
A veteran liberal studies teacher, Colin Lai, who was also chairman of the
liberal studies committee at the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment
Authority, was accused of uploading anti-police messages on his social
media page that read, "The whole family of black cops should die". After
the case was reported, he resigned from the HKEAA but has not resigned from
the school where he teaches.
Fan said Lai was the chairman of the liberal studies committee at HKEAA,
giving him a big say over examination papers and grading.
"That's the reason why, after the reunification in 1997, Hong Kong
students' affinity for the country has decreased," she said.
JOSEPH LI in Hong Kong
