[themacguffinman]

Just like it would have been unpopular for the regime to ban the most popular search and services company in the world?

I don't know why you think China needs to worry about Apple, Apple has been a faithful and lucrative partner to them. They don't just faithfully collaborate on censorship and cede control of encrypted Chinese iCloud data directly to a state-owned cloud provider, we now know that Apple has signed a $275B omnibus deal with China that includes Chinese startup investments, Chinese worker training, and R&D collaboration with Chinese tech firms. There is no government that Apple invests more into or collaborates more closely with than China's.

Why not just have Xiaomi phones where you have total control? Well, because you can have that and total control over a global tech giant that pours foreign money and technology into your regime. Why not have both?