Chinese consumers could boycott Apple Inc if the US bans WeChat, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, as the clock ticks down on a US order to block the popular social app.
US President Donald Trump this month announced a ban from the middle of next month on WeChat and another Chinese-owned app, TikTok, accusing them of threatening national security, further stoking tensions between Beijing and Washington.
However, ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) tweeted yesterday: “If WeChat is banned, then there will be no reason why Chinese shall keep iPhone and apple products.”
Photo: AP
Zhao had already on Thursday said “many Chinese people are saying they may stop using iPhones if WeChat is banned in the US,” and accused Washington of “systematic economic bullying of non-US companies” by targeting the Chinese app.
The comments mark a rare direct reference by Beijing to boycotting a US product and come as the superpowers spar on multiple fronts, including military activity in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and blame for COVID-19.
Chinese social media users yesterday responded with mixed feelings to Zhao’s warning on Twitter, which is blocked in China, but accessible through virtual private network software.
“I use Apple, but I also love my country,” one user on Sina Weibo said. “It’s not a conflict.”
“No matter how good Apple is, it’s just a phone. It can be replaced, but WeChat is different,” another user said. “Modern Chinese people will lose their soul if they leave WeChat, especially businesspeople.”
Wechat, known in China as Weixin (微信), has more than 1.2 billion active users.
Trump’s executive order against WeChat forces the platform to end all operations in the US and bans Americans doing business with it.
Apple accounted for 8 percent of China’s smartphone market in the second quarter of this year, according to Counterpoint Research, far behind domestic leader Huawei Technologies Co (華為).
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