I'd say that depends on whether the subsidiary in China is financially independent from the mothership. If Apple in US profits from censorship in China or subsidizes it, it's not unreasonable for US to interfere with that.
I guess with tech companies - "operate in" is a little unclear. Someone in China can visit your website (assuming it's not blocked by TGF) - and it might be very difficult for you to know (they could be using some Proxy or VPN).
In Apple's case - they literally have stores selling phones in China. AFAIK, that's how most people get their iPhones in China.
In the US - you have to pass all kind of FTC obstacles to sell a device. In China & other countries - it's the same way.
It seems like an overstep for the US to say - "We get to say what devices are available in every country." It also seems like an overstep for the US to say China can't have a Great Firewall and Censorship even if that's extremely "un-American". Us having free speech is extremely "un-CCP" - but for the time being - we've still got it [=
More abstractly, corporations are artificial legal entities that are created by governments in the first place. So why can't governments restrict what those artificial entities can and cannot do?
China could give a s*t what American laws are.
They are pressuring Apple to take some actions, if Apple doesn't want to take those actions, for whatever reason including 'American law forbids them' - then they're out of the market.
Those are the terms presented to them, and the CCP is not bluffing.
As far as 'censoring people outside China' that is actually a line that Apple can probably actually hold.
If that starts happening - American companies need to be FORCED to exit the Chinese market and keep free speech. Otherwise, it's a simple P&L calculation - and China will win. Apple is not going to lose 20% of their global sales because they block some Wikipedia articles about Tiananmen Square. But if China cuts off their sales because they won't - they would lose 20% of their sales. If we allow companies to go down this path - the entire world will end up censored pretty quickly.
Just as China does not care about American law - US companies don't give a shit about human rights. They just give a shit about P&L.
So again, that 'feels right' - but this is not a 'moral' issue, it's a 'power' issue.
That it's 'unreasonable' that China should be able to censor outside of it's borders is kind of besides the point.
What matters is the materiality of their power.
In China, they can basically dictate terms and that's it.
China could feasibly threaten to block Apple in China unless some 'foreign censorship' is done on their behalf, the reason US companies should not concede, is because they don't have to.
For a couple of small things, they might get away with it but on the whole, it's something Apple can push back on ... because they can, not because they have some kind of moral high ground.
The social/moral posturing will be used as part of negotiation, but it's just superficial dressing on the underlying power.
US, Can, Aus, Europe need to get on the same page with respect to China.
I feel deja vu from the beginning of WWII - Germany growing and gaining power and becoming more aggressive while nearby countries (and further-away ones - US+CA+AU) are ignoring the threat, or trying to pacify them with small concessions and sacrifices...
Completely agree.
There should be laws that US companies can only cowtoe to the US government WRT free speech.
In this case - it appears to only be happening in China - which I guess is fair game.
But the line should be drawn at China being able to use its market to force US companies to censor people outside of China.