A Chinese company in Jiangsu province has demanded staff switch within 30 days to mobile phones of mainland brands, warning that those who buy Apple devices will face immediate dismissal.

The Jiangsu Capital Wine Business Limited Company issued the order on Tuesday, but tempered it with a subsidy offer of 15% of the cost if staffers bought Huawei phones, according to Chinese social media platform Pear Video.

Huawei is the Chinese brand subjected to United States sanctions starting on Tuesday. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, as well as South Korean firms SK Hynix and Samsung, have stopped providing it with chips because of the sanctions.

A staffer of the Jiangsu wine company claimed the order was made as Apple, having “eavesdropped on the German chancellor,” was untrustworthy and would be a security threat to commercial secrets.

“I am Chinese, so it shouldn’t be wrong to support phones made in China,” he said.

The staffer said the order did not mean they were under compulsion to use Huawei products, and that the company was only providing a benefit as most of them liked Huawei phones.

Internet users were not impressed, with one pointing out that Meng Wengzhou, Huawei’s deputy chair who was arrested in Canada in late 2018, also used an Apple iPhone herself.

The wine company should stop using the Microsoft computer operating system and switch to one made in China, another suggested. Some speculated that the order was meant to increase public exposure for the small firm.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play