On Tuesday, Apple announced the production of a new red iPhone 7/Plus that's notable for more than just its sleek appearance. Its press release read:
“Since we began working with (RED) 10 years ago, our customers have made a significant impact in fighting the spread of AIDS through the purchase of our products, from the original iPod nano (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition all the way to today’s lineup of Beats products and accessories for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
“The introduction of this special edition iPhone in a gorgeous red finish is our biggest (PRODUCT)RED offering to date in celebration of our partnership with (RED), and we can’t wait to get it into customers’ hands.”
The AIDS-fighting charity (RED) was featured all over the world on the Apple websites describing the new phone. There was one glaring omission, however: though Apple's China website featured the red phones, they didn't mention the charity. 9to5Mac reports on the discrepancy:
...Apple’s Chinese website omits all mention of the link to the charity. This isn’t a language thing – the Taiwanese site has the same PRODUCT(RED) branding as the rest of the world – but the site suggests this is instead a political decision by Apple. Its theory is that Apple doesn’t want to jeopardise its somewhat delicate relationship with the Chinese government by getting embroiled in what is a controversial topic in the country. There is reason to support this theory. China has been criticized in many quarters for failing to adequately respond to a growing AIDS crisis in the country.
China's approach to their AIDS crisis is problematic for many reasons, and some speculate Apple is simply trying to avoid the issue. As TechCrunch notes:
Transmission through sex has been rising exponentially, exposing which groups the UN report regards as the 21st century’s most vulnerable: “widespread lack of knowledge and protective life skills, huge internal labour migration, underprivileged minority communities, relative poverty, youth, and gender inequity” […]
Health officials say there are plenty of problems in China’s approach to AIDS. There are frequent reports of police crack-downs on local NGOs involved in AIDS prevention. There have also been reports of police using the presence of a condom in a sex worker’s handbag to justify detention. This has been partially blamed on policy incoordination, and contradictions and conflicts between laws and regulations.
In addition, there are concerns that provincial governments have enough autonomy to sometimes stall the implementation of central government-set guidelines and some officials say there has been a reluctance from many state-owned companies to get involved in AIDS programs.
