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US-China tech war: Tech vlogger’s interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook goes viral amid thawing tensions

  • In an 18-minute video interview with 22-year-old student He Shijie, Tim Cook discusses his admiration of Chinese people, history and arts
  • Absent from the discussion was any mention of censorship or the US-China technology rivalry as the Apple CEO courts Chinese consumers for market growth

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Chinese tech vlogger and 22-year-old student He Shijie interviews Tim Cook in an effort to court young Chinese consumers amid easing US-China tensions. Photo: YouTube screenshot
Coco Feng
Apple CEO Tim Cook staged a virtual talk show with a 22-year-old Chinese influencer last week in an apparent effort to appease young consumers, and it looks like the effort was a success based on the response from netizens across Chinese social media platforms.

The 18-minute video of a discussion between 60-year-old Cook and the young Chinese student, He Shijie, who has six million fans on the Chinese video site Bilibili, has been viewed by hundreds of millions of viewers across different Chinese internet platforms. At least 250 million users on the microblogging site Weibo read posts about the dialogue since the video was uploaded on February 18.

The talk, which was conducted in English and posted with Chinese subtitles, was released as hostilities between Beijing and Washington appear to be easing after a phone call last week between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, a goodwill gesture to repair US-China relations.

“Apple is using this peaceful moment not only for marketing, but also using Chinese social media to connect with consumers of Apple products,” said Cameron Johnson, an adjunct faculty instructor at New York University Shanghai and partner at the consultancy Tidal Wave Solutions.

(So-called bullet chat comments, which fly across the screen while videos are playing, are a signature Bilibili feature.)

Apple, the California-based tech giant valued over US$2 trillion, has come to increasingly rely on the China market for growth. The company’s revenues in the fourth quarter of 2020 surged to above US$100 billion for the first time in history thanks to 57 per cent growth in sales in the Greater China market, which includes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

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