Apple, looking at China, asks Taiwanese suppliers to write "Made in China"

Japan's Nikkei Asia reported today (8th) that Apple has asked its Taiwanese partners to label their supplies with 'Made in China' instead of 'Made in Taiwan'.

The media reported that they were instructed to promptly review whether the origin of the products or parts of these companies going to China was marked as 'Taiwan, China' or 'Taipei, China' and, if not, to be corrected.

Apple's crackdown came amid escalating tensions between China and Taiwan and the United States and China after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on the 2nd.

Under the principle of 'one China', which regards Taiwan as a part of its own country, rather than an independent country, China strongly protested the visit of Pelosi, the third in the U.S. protocol, to Taiwan.

In the past, China has retaliated against and responded to the attitudes of governments and companies that do not view Taiwan as part of China.

Taiwan requires that the country of origin of exports to China be marked as Taiwan or the Republic of China.

Accordingly, if 'Made in Taiwan' or 'Republic of China', the official name of Taiwan, is included in the product box or import declaration form, sanctions may be imposed.

Nikkei Asia reported that if such a label is attached, China could impose a fine of up to 4,000 yuan, or about 770,000 Korean won, or in the worst case, refuse to transport it.

Apple's request came after China inspected Pegatron's Suzhou plant in China the day after a senior executive at iPhone assembler Taiwanese Pegatron met Pelosi at a luncheon hosted by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Apple, which has China as its main market, has always been low-key in order not to offend the Chinese authorities.

At the request of the Chinese government, Apple removed Muslim-related apps from the Apple App Store in October last year, such as the 'Quran Majid' app.

Controversy ensued as it was interpreted as being related to China's crackdown on Uyghurs, a Muslim minority in Xinjiang.

In 2017, Apple also removed the virtual private network and VPN apps, which are overseas Internet bypass programs, from the App Store ahead of the 19th Party Congress in China.

This was interpreted as adding power to China's information control and censorship, and it was criticized by the Western media and civic groups.