Huawei subsidies, Apple bans among Chinese businesses
Chinese businesses are offering subsidies for Huawei products, some even banning Apple devices, amid US-China tensions.
Chinese businesses are offering subsidies for Huawei products, some even banning Apple devices, amid US-China tensions exacerbated by the arrest of a Huawei executive in Canada at Washington’s request.
According to dozens of statements circulating on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging platform, Chinese businesses have banded together to buy Huawei products to support their national tech giant, following a series of furious moves from Chinese government in protest of the detention of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of its founder.
The mounting pressure to endorse Huawei and boycott Apple from the Chinese public came after the US and Canadian ambassadors to Beijing were separately summoned by China’s Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng over the weekend to protest Meng’s detention and demand her release.
The business statements, printed with official business letterheads and seals, encourage their employees to buy Huawei devices, and in some cases another national brand — ZTE — as well. Each company would then subsidise 10 per cent to 100 per cent of its receipt price as a reward.
Some business also demanded their employees “not to buy any Apple products”, warning they otherwise could be punished with fines, and even be fired.
However, the reactions toward the decisions from management and board are mixed, with many slamming the movement as “idiotic” given that Apple products are made in China by Chinese workers.
“If the US ban you from using Android, your mobile phone is nothing but a brick!” one user commented.
Apple, meanwhile, has been ordered by a Chinese court to stop selling older iPhone models after finding the company infringed on two patents held by Qualcomm.
Apple said its full portfolio of iPhones in China remain on sale, and that it plans to appeal the court’s decision.
Meng was detained at the request of the US during a layover at the Vancouver airport on December 1 — the same day that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China agreed to a 90-day ceasefire in a trade dispute that threatens to disrupt global commerce.
Meng is seeking bail in a Vancouver court.
With The Wall Street Journal, AP
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