China Orders Civil Servants to Ban Foreign Brand Smartphones Including iPhone

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According to the American daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 6th (local time), China has ordered civil servants in central government agencies not to use Apple iPhones as work devices.

According to WSJ, civil servants belonging to Chinese government agencies have reportedly been ordered for several weeks not to use or bring foreign brand devices, including Apple iPhones, to work.

These guidelines were communicated through work meetings or online chat rooms. However, it is not clear how widely this order has been issued. WSJ also reported that this message was delivered to some employees of central government regulatory agencies.

The report states that China had previously issued orders restricting the use of iPhones for work to some government agency civil servants, but this measure has expanded the scope of the restrictions.

WSJ analyzed that this move by the Chinese government is similar to the U.S. sanctions on Huawei and TikTok. Earlier, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on the Chinese telecommunications equipment company Huawei in 2019 citing national security reasons, and recently has also strengthened sanctions on the Chinese video platform TikTok. In February, Texas banned the use of TikTok on government-distributed electronic devices and official internet networks.

WSJ predicted that if iPhone use is banned in Chinese government agencies, foreign brands such as Apple will be hit. Apple currently depends on the Chinese market for 19% of its total sales.