China: No, We're Not Banning iPhones for Government Workers
China’s Foreign Ministry is dismissing media reports that say the country has banned iPhone use among its government agencies.
“China did not issue any law, regulation or policy document that bans the purchase and use of cellphones of foreign brands, such as iPhone,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday.
The ministry made the statement days after the China South Morning Post and The Wall Street Journal reported the contrary, citing unnamed sources. According to both publications, the country ordered officials at central government agencies to stop using iPhones and foreign-branded devices at work.
China presumably wants to thwart US spying. In June, China’s ally, the Russian government, claimed it had uncovered “a reconnaissance operation by American intelligence services carried out using Apple mobile devices,” pointing to spyware exploits for iOS that allegedly infected thousands of iPhones in the country. (Apple says it has “never worked with any government to insert a backdoor into any Apple product and never will.”)
On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the government was aware of the “media report about security issues related to iPhone.” But she rejected the idea that China had formally instituted a ban on Apple products.
“We protect foreign companies’ rights and interests in accordance with the law and strive to foster a first-class market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment,” Mao said, in what may have been a veiled shot at the US’s own policies to sanction Chinese company Huawei.
Instead, Ning said that China has already instituted laws requiring foreign cell phone companies to bolster the IT security of their products and to protect consumer
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