Good morning. ( Sign up here to get this in your inbox every morning.)

Apple is the latest U.S. company to feel heat from China

The tech giant removed an app last night that allowed protesters in Hong Kong to track the police, after criticism from China’s state media. It’s the latest clash between American businesses and an increasingly political China willing to flex its muscles to promote its interests.

Apple said it had withdrawn the app from its App Store because it was being used to target and ambush police officers and threaten public safety. A Twitter account reportedly run by the app’s developer called that reasoning false and “ridiculous.”

The decision was made after a scathing editorial was published in People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper. As Javier Hernández of the NYT notes, it’s the latest example of Beijing putting pressure on multinationals.

Apple is heavily dependent on China, given that it assembles nearly all its products there and tallied nearly $44 billion in sales in the country during the 12 months ended June 30. The company’s C.E.O., Tim Cook, travels there frequently and has remained largely silent on Chinese politics, even as he speaks out on American current affairs.