Apple removed a Hong Kong mapping app from its App Store on Thursday after Chinese state media said it endangered law enforcement officers in the ongoing Hong Kong pro-democracy protests.

Apple also removed a news outlet's app, Quartz, from the App Store in China on Wednesday, citing content that is "illegal in China," a Quartz spokesperson said, adding that Quartz has been covering pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong extensively.

Apple said that it removed the mapping app because it "has been used in ways that endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong" and has been "used to target and ambush police." Apple also said that it had been in contact with the Hong Kong Cybersecurity and Technology Crime Bureau. (Google also removed Hong Kong protest apps from its Android app store this week.) Apple added that Chinese authorities told it that the Quartz app didn't comply with local laws.

Because Apple controls its App Store, which is the only way for most people to install apps on iPhones, it can effectively decide which software is acceptable for iPhone users, making it an access point for governments which want to remove content from their countries.

But while attention is now focused on how China's government puts pressure on international businesses, Apple has had to carefully tread around Beijing's pressure points for years.

Apple finds itself in the middle of controversy as China and the Communist Party are increasingly leaning on international companies to quell discussion or distribution of content that supports pro-Democracy protests in Hong Kong.

For example, organizations and businesses in China have been cutting relationships and putting pressure on the NBA after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.

Apple has a closer relationship with China than other tech companies, like Facebook and Google, which have significant products that are banned from the country.

Apple does nearly all of its production in China, and needs to protect the massive supply chain that produces over 200 million iPhones per year.

Beyond that, mainland China is also a key market for Apple. Apple reported $51 billion in revenue in 2018 from "Greater China," which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan (in line with the Communist Party's preferred geography). That's Apple's third-biggest region, after the Americas and Europe. Apple's total revenue for 2018 was $265.6 billion.