When Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tweeted about Apple not standing up for American values in other countries, he was putting Missourians and Americans overall on notice, according to a local GOP leader
“Most people aren’t really paying attention to international politics, so they probably don't know about it,” said Jean Evans, executive director emeritus of the Missouri Republican Party. “He is making that point.”
Evans was reacting to Hawley’s Nov. 29 letter that was posted on Twitter asking Apple CEO Tim Cook to provide all communication between his mobile device company and Chinese Communist Party officials related to iPhone's AirDrop feature, which was allegedly compromised during countrywide protests a week ago.
As previously reported, Apple reportedly limited the AirDrop function in China before protests against CCP leader Xi Jinping.
“I think he's driving that point home and putting some pressure on them to maybe think about standing up for American values as they are considering policies in other countries and that maybe they should also consider that where millions of their products are sold,” Evans said.
About $15.47 billion of Apple’s revenue derived from China compared to $39.81 billion in North America in just the 4th quarter of 2022 so far, according to media reports.
“There’s a lot of concern about these multinational corporations and their activities in some of these other countries that are oppressing people and I share that concern,” Evans told the St. Louis Record. “I think that's a valid concern.”
In his letter, Hawley asked Cook to detail Apple’s plan to diversify its supply chain and questioned why Apple modified AirDrop in a manner that made it more difficult for Chinese protesters to communicate amongst themselves.
“Since Apple makes more than 95% of its iPhones in China, these disruptions pose substantial material risks to Apple’s shareholders,” he wrote. “Your continued dependency on Chinese labor not only undermines the interests of the American economy and its workers but has once again led your company to crack down on speech at the Chinese Communist Party’s behest. Apple’s activities in China are unconscionable and present substantial material risks to your shareholders.”
Although Evans is doubtful that Cook will respond to Hawley's prompting, she believes that the Missouri senator is correct in making a record of the incident.
"Josh Hawley has been right a lot," she said. "He's usually a year or two ahead of the curve on some of these issues that end up not really coming to light until farther down. He is very proactive as opposed to reactive in identifying issues when it comes to national security."