GOP ire at Apple big’s Sino kiss-up
A Republican congressman lashed out at Tim Cook for giving an interview last month to a Chinese state-owned media entity in which the Apple chief executive praised China’s software and app developers as “inspiring” and “innovative.”
“With more than 5 million Chinese developers and counting, there is no question that China has one of the most vibrant developer communities in the entire world,” Cook told China Daily in a June 16 video interview posted on the publication’s YouTube site.
Cook said that his encounters with Chinese developers leave him “impressed by [their] creativity and passion for using technology to enrich people’s lives.”
Speaking on the sidelines of this month’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Cook said, “I can’t tell you how inspired I am by the innovation and creativity you brought to your work throughout the entire pandemic.”
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) ripped the “hypocrisy” of Cook’s gushing interview when his so-called progressive company supports the Black Lives Matter and other liberal causes.
Apple and other firms with extensive business ties to China are quick to criticize American faults, but silent about Beijing’s human-rights abuses, including its mass detention of Uyghur Muslims, says Waltz and other Apple foes.
“This further underscores the hypocrisy of corporate America, which preaches social justice at home and turns a blind eye when it comes to its profits,” Waltz told the Washington Free Beacon.
“It’s absolutely shameful an American CEO would sit down with a communist, genocide-denying propaganda rag like China Daily.”
Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.