Apple doing China’s bidding
‘The Problem with Jon Stewart’ will not come back to Apple TV+ for a third season, bringing a surprise and sudden end to the increasingly popular show led by the former Daily Show host. …
He told staff that the company had concerns about the subject matter Stewart planned for three shows during the upcoming season. Those topics included China, Israel and artificial intelligence.
(CNN, October 20, 2023)
Trust me, with China on the table, blaming this cancellation on Israel and AI is like eating Big Macs and then blaming the weight gained on the Coke and fries.
No, this is just the latest example of China executing extraterritorial censorship. It presumes the right to bully any company doing business in China to comport themselves according to its propaganda even back home.
Entities from the WTA to the NBA can attest to this pressure. However, too many Western corporations have been willing to check their mottos and values at the border to access China’s market.
I’ve decried this venal phenomenon in previous commentaries. Just look at how Trump and the NBA discovered that doing business in China is like walking on eggshells. Or observe how Apple became the apple of China’s eye when it comes to surveilling citizens.
Politics: No laughing matter
The irony, of course, is that Stewart gained fame and fortune by making fun of politics and politicians. But, given Apple’s history of kowtowing to China, he should have known his goose was cooked.
China got movie star John Cena to issue a groveling apology — in Chinese, no less. And his crime was simply stating the generally recognized fact that Taiwan is a country.
Now here comes Stewart, pitching a series on Apple TV, highlighting facts about the snowflake authoritarian state China has become. Imagine the wrath that would trigger.
The problem with Jon Stewart? He keeps trying to recapture that Daily Show magic, not to get laughs but to influence politics. Instead, he should give up TV and run for political office.
But this episode reinforces the iPINIONS clarion call for all Western countries to decouple their economies from dependence on access to China’s.
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