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Comment by blahgeek | Hacker News Reader

I’m a Chinese. I’m glad that apple did this.

While I want apple to keep its dignity as much as you do, I cannot change our government (we don’t get to vote, so we literally cannot). Given this situation, if apple don’t do these kind of things, worse case scenario, it get banned in china just like google and many others. As a user, apple products are still the most privacy protecting products I can buy and use in china. (For example, do you know that Chinese government forbids end to end encryption? But iMessage is an exception). Business aside, I think apple protected the human rights in china the best way it could.

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It's not about protecting human rights and no apple didn't do that. It's money they protected. This seems like whitewashing comment.

Here we get to vote but nothing changes, don't worry about it.

If voting changed things, it wouldn't be allowed.

A cynic would wonder if China allows iMessage to be encrypted because they can break it. A real cynic would wonder if China allows iMessage because Apple deliberately made it so that China could break it.

If iMessage isn't revealed in the future to be accessible by the CCP, I'll eat my hat. It's not even protected for users in the USA [0]. Do people really think the CCP would allow encrypted messaging it can't access? If so, I've got a bridge to sell you.

[0] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/what...

That's for iCloud backups of iMessage content, not iMessage itself.

> As a user, apple products are still the most privacy protecting products I can buy and use in china

I find it exceptionally hard to believe that, with iCloud datacenters located in homeland China. An easier explanation is that Apple's marketing, long revered as one of the best in the world, was able to convince people that they were secure while giving data to the CCP hand-over-fist behind the curtain. Until their system is transparent enough to say for sure, I'd err on the side of caution.

> (we don’t get to vote, so we literally cannot)

That simply not true. Millions sacrificed their lives so they countries could be free. You just don't want to fight and you are happy with expansion of communism. The West is not going to fight for you, you have to do it yourself. Don't be cowards.

you absolutely can and should change your government. Otherwise your children or grandchildren will have to and it will be even harder for them.

That’s awful easy to armchair in from afar. On the ground that is a hell of an expectation.

yeah, tell me more. I was one of the students in Kiev, Ukraine during “Orange revolution” in 2004. Yeah, it is scary but not fighting for your future is scarier.

My friends did fight in Cuba for freedom during July's protests, now they are gone. Ukraine is wonderland compared to China, Venezuela, Cuba, etc... Gimme a break.

Fighting for having Gorbachev-like sellout as your future leader is much scarier.

If you like being dead or enslaved, go ahead and challenge the Chinese government. They have an internment camp bed with your name on it. They have express lanes setup in airports to sell your organs to the highest bidder.

I am assuming blahgeek is middle class and as far as I know now sucessful revolution (in the traditional sense)has been led by the middle class ever. It's the impoverished people who have led such things.

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