Following its initial attack, during a special CCTV broadcast on consumer rights issues on the evening of Friday March 15, China’s state media continues its war against Apple with back-to-back-to-back stories critical of the company in the People’s Daily March 25, 26 and 27.

During the evening of Friday March 15, many well-known Chinese celebrities released statements on Weibo attacking Apple for their treatment of Chinese customers; a move which coincided with the broadcast of a CCTV show on consumer rights which also highlighted the issue. The show aired at 20:20 on the same evening and addressed the issue regarding why Chinese consumers aren’t eligible for free replacements of faulty back covers for phones, while consumers in other countries are.

Many netizens were skeptical of the move by many celebrities and expressed curiosity as to whether the celebrities were simply being told by CCTV to criticize Apple. Actor Peter Ho reinforced the skepticism, as his Weibo post seemingly referenced the fact that he was under orders to “publish around 20:20” (Ho later published another post claiming that his Weibo account had been hacked, and that it wasn’t him who wrote the previous post). 

Several weeks later, critical coverage of Apple resumed with three consecutive articles published in the Peoples Daily on March 25-27, each condemning Apple’s arrogance as well as the “foreign double standards” of its after-sales services in Mainland China.

Click here to read the March 26 article, “Apple unmoved by repairs complaints.”

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Keywords: China war against Apple