Apple’s Tim Cook Takes Stage in China to Welcoming Applause

Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook took the stage Saturday at an economic conference in Beijing sponsored by the Chinese government, giving an upbeat talk that was welcomed with applause.

The treatment his counterpart at TikTok received days earlier in Washington couldn’t have been more different: hours of questioning by lawmakers over the short-video platform’s links to Beijing.

Mr. Cook, making his first known visit to China since the pandemic began, spoke for about half an hour in an exchange with a former official of the forum’s organizer from a TED Talk-style stage set up in Beijing’s historical Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

“I am thrilled to be back in China,” the chief executive told the China Development Forum, hosted by a research center of the State Council. “It means the world to me and I feel really privileged to be here.”

Mr. Cook spoke about how Apple and China have grown together over the three decades since the company entered the country—which it has relied on both as a manufacturing hub as well as a rapidly growing consumer market. “This has been a symbiotic kind of relationship that we have both enjoyed,” he said.

Like Mr. Cook, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew runs one of the world’s most high-profile tech services. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. That puts it at the center of the growing strategic rivalry between Washington and Beijing, with bilateral relations at their lowest point in decades.

During a House hearing that ran for more than five hours on Thursday, Mr. Chew—a Singaporean national—was subject to withering attacks on TikTok as he tried to make his case that the company would earn lawmakers’ trust.

In a rare bipartisan display, Democrats and Republicans repeatedly questioned him over similar issues, at times not allowing him to finish sentences. TikTok later said that political grandstanding had dominated the hearing.

Apple didn’t immediately respond when asked why it was important that Mr. Cook attended the Chinese-government sponsored conference at a time when U.S.-China tensions are on the rise. In 2017, Mr. Cook said it was important not to be a bystander in China if you want to achieve change. This is his fifth time attending the annual forum.

Mr. Cook is among the dozens of American and other foreign executives attending, or set to attend, the three-day conference that started Saturday.

For U.S. business leaders, the risk of potential fallout from being seen hobnobbing in Beijing is high, given how senior American government officials have held off from visiting China.

In some of the sessions Saturday, the geopolitical tensions loomed as the elephant in the room.

Qualcomm Inc. CEO Cristiano Amon focused his talk on the digital transformation and 5G, and their potential to boost businesses and productivity in society as a whole.

In a session on rebuilding supply chains, multinational businesses were represented by top executives from Australian and German companies.

In other sessions, senior advisers to the Chinese government largely stuck to topics deemed by Beijing as essential to the country’s economic future, including carbon neutrality, technology innovation and healthcare.

Still, some ventured further, pointing to high inflation and the banking crisis as two risks to the global economy emanating from the U.S. At the same time, they touted Beijing’s ability to manage its debt and economic headwinds.

“Some developed countries sharply tightened their monetary policies, which brought spillover effects such as bank bankruptcy, foreign debt difficulties, and financial market turmoil,” said Han Wenxiu, a deputy head of the General Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission.

生词记录

take the stage 登台表演

upbeat 积极向上的，乐观的，快乐的

counterpart 相反的，对立的，相应的

pandemic 流行病，大规模流行的，广泛蔓延的

guesthouse 客房（大型住宅留给客人用的小屋子），小客栈

privilege 特许的，享有特权的，受特别优待的

hub 中心，枢纽，核心

symbiotic 共生的

profile 简介，概况；关注度

rivalry 竞争，较量，竞赛

bilateral 双边的，双方的

withering （目光，话语等）令人难堪的，尖刻的；严厉的，极为挑剔的

bipartisan 为两党派所支持的，包括两个党派的

grandstanding 哗众取宠，炫耀卖弄

dominate 控制，主导，占支配地位的

bystander 旁观者，看热闹的人

fallout 不良影响，恶果

hobnob 亲近，过从甚密

loom 隐约可见，赫然耸现；（不希望/不愉快的事情）阴森地逼近

the elephant in the room （人们不愿提及的）棘手问题

multinational 跨国公司的

deem 认为，相信

neutrality 中立，中立状态

venture （尤指有风险的）企业，商业，投机活动，经营项目；敢于去，冒险去

emanate 表现，显示；来自，发源于，产生于

spillover 溢出；（非预期的）影响

turmoil 动乱，混乱