There is no alternative option for them that doesn't involve just not selling in China. If they want to sell in China (a huge population of people who love to buy devices), then they have to play by the Chinese government's rules. It's not like they can just sneak around and hope the government doesn't notice, because China will not hesitate to ban the sale of legitimate Apple devices if they feel justified in doing so.

Apple ships products that conform to local regulations and this is absolutely normal. Do you think entreprises should choose which laws they comply to and which they don't? Good luck financing your state with that because I'm sure they'll all opt out of tax regulations...

They shouldn't conform to local regulations that are contrary to their publicly stated company ideals. One way to do so is to not do business in countries where it's impossible to conform.

> One way to do so is to not do business in countries where it's impossible to conform.

Keep in mind that we're talking about China. If Apple pulls out, there's no shortage of Chinese companies that the Chinese government is buddy-buddy with who will happily go all-in on spying on consumers.

Apple obeys Chinese regulations, but it's reasonable to assume (based on their actions in the US) that they don't enjoy it. Which means they're not going to go out of their way to give the Chinese government more than they need to. This is potentially in contrast with the Chinese technology companies who would be more than happy to provide extra data to the government.

Apple is able to hold their position in China only because they comply with regulations, but in so doing they provide consumers with a better option than going through any of the Chinese government-friendly companies. Yes, it sucks that they have to comply, but in a scenario where Apple either chooses or is forced to withdraw from China it is the Chinese consumers who will suffer the most, because they will be left with only government-friendly alternatives.

It's an ages-old argument: "if I won't do this evil thing, somebody else will, and they will be worse at it". It also makes you complicit in and responsible for whatever you help with, though.

But I don't have a problem with Apple here, because they did exactly that - they're not providing their News app/service in China at all, rather than providing a censored version where they would be implementing the censorship. Yes, this means that local competitors will offer their own apps, likely censored even more. And it's up to Chinese citizens to hold them to account. But when it comes to American companies, it's our job to do so.