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Skype Vanishes From App Stores in China (nytimes.com)
Skype, Microsoft's Internet phone call and messaging service, has been unavailable for download from a number of app stores in China, including Apple's, for almost a month (Editor's note: the link could be paywalled; alternative source), The New York Times reported on Tuesday. From the report: "We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of voice over internet protocol apps do not comply with local law. Therefore these apps have been removed from the app store in China," an Apple spokeswoman said Tuesday in an emailed statement responding to questions about Skype's disappearance from the app store. "These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business." The removal led to a volley of complaints from Chinese users on internet message boards who were no longer able to pay for Skype's services through Apple. The users said that the disruption began in late October. Skype, which is owned by Microsoft, still functions in China, and its fate in the country is not yet clear. But its removal from the app stores is the most recent example of a decades-long push by China's government to control and monitor the flow of information online.
...the more they stay the same.
Another knee-jerk PRC effort to both:
1. get better (and ultimately total) visibility into private communications of its citizens AND
2. pave the way for a local competitor to take that market share and enable the flow of graft to government patrons
Sad, but not surprising.
Concerning the Chairman's direction, you left out letting Trump think that he's getting the better of him. Throw him a big dinner, he'll love it.