Beijing (AFP)
Apple was accused Wednesday by a Chinese media of supporting the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong through an urban transport app, as Beijing increases pressure on foreign companies.
The incident comes as the American Basketball League (NBA) and its Houston Rockets franchise face fierce criticism in China for a tweet from a club leader supporting Hong Kong protesters.
On Wednesday, the US giant Apple was in the viewfinder of the People's Daily for allowing Hong Kong an application that allows the public to locate the police on a map.
Called HKMap.live, it is portrayed by the newspaper as supporting the "rioters", while the former British colony has been going through a serious political crisis for four months, with almost daily and sometimes violent demonstrations.
"Apple has chosen to approve the application (...) in Hong Kong," says the organ of the Communist Party in power. And to wonder in a vitriolic editorial: "Does Apple intend to be an accomplice of the rioters?"
The apple firm, because of major financial issues in mainland China, has always refrained from taking a position on sensitive issues, and generally complies with Beijing's requirements by removing from the country applications deemed inappropriate.
Hong Kong, territory returned to China in 1997, enjoys a special status, with broad autonomy and freedoms unknown in the rest of the country.
"Apple must think about the consequences of its reckless and misguided decision," warns the People's Daily, while the application is also available on Android platforms.
Invited by AFP to react, Apple had not commented immediately but Chinese Internet users were divided.
"When police brutality and madness increase in the streets of Hong Kong, I rely on this app to move around town when I need to go home or work," said a user on the AppStore.
"It is certainly not by accident that Apple has authorized HKmap.live online," was losing a surfer from mainland China on the social network Weibo.
© 2019 AFP