As we've seen, Apple has shown it's willingness to agree with the Chinese government's wishes several times. First by not allowing users of it's Chinese app store to download VPNs, then taking Skype off the Mainland China app store, as well as handing over control of Chinese iCloud operations to a Chinese firm, and also by removing apps with call kit in them from the Chinese app store.

Now, we should also note that Apple makes quite a bit of money from China. According to Apple's latest earnings call [PDF] for Q1 2018, they made $17.956 billion from China. So, this strategy seems to be working.

Discussion Questions

In what ways are Apple accommodating the Chinese government a necessity?

In this case, or others, when should Apple take into consideration the desires of their customers over their investors?

What problems can be had from accommodating China, but not being so accommodating to other governments?

What can other companies learn from Apple's dealing with the Chinese government?

Any other puer tea fans?

This is a 250g beeng ("cake") of pressed sheng puer tea by Bitterleaf Teas from the Jingmai area of Yunnan, produced last spring, so it has settled into itself quite nicely.
Dressed
Undressed

Don't know what puer is? Puer tea is a Yunnan, China specific tea that is very unique. It is processed differently than the more common white, green, oolong, and black teas. It is valued for its capacity to be aged for years (to decades) transforming through oxidation and fermentation into something much darker, earthier, smoother, and funkier. It is also consumed young for its fresh, floral, fruity, pungent, bitter, vegetal, and/or pleasantly musky green tea-like qualities. Traditionally, this type of tea was pressed into these cakes for ease of transport, and that tradition has held up (also makes it easier for modern shipping due to the dramatically reduced volume of the tea upon pressing). I use a letter opener to pry away several grams of the tea, and brew using gongfu methods. ( If you're curious, I posted more about this over here on the creative tilde )

This is a very nice tea packed with floral aroma (hence the name "In Bloom"). Great tea from a great producer. I can't say enough good things about Bitterleaf. They can be a bit pricey, but its because of their dedication to producing teas from high quality material.