>> The UK is a democratic country which should be upholding the right to privacy. > >I mean sure, but Chinese people should have the same rights of privacy as a

>> The UK is a democratic country which should be upholding the right to privacy. > >I mean sure, but Chinese people should have the same rights of privacy as anyone else. It's not suddenly less-bad because their government is totalitarian. The extent to which Chinese people oppose the government being able to read anyone's conversations is quite different vs. the UK. Unfortunately, it's not likely that this or the Chinese government's behaviour will change any time soon. But in the UK it is an active political question that is still undecided. And as you said, the size of the market -> how much money they get probably has an influence on Apple's decision to operate in China, even with all the caveats. But it's also not the only factor. If it was, Apple wouldn't consider blocking iMessage/etc for UK customers.