中国是苹果（Apple）的第二大市场，首席执行官蒂姆•库克肯定不愿苹果卷入它的中国用户与中国政府之间的口水战。然而如今事与愿违，路透社本周三发布了一则很有意思的报道：《中国粉丝力挺苹果对抗中国官方媒体指责》。

    我们把时间拨回到两周前，当时，中国最强大的新闻媒体中央电视台（CCTV）在315晚会上猛烈抨击苹果，称苹果的保修政策歧视中国消费者：使用翻新iPhone应对“整机更换”，而且维修后的iPhone质保期大大缩水。

    不过，中央电视台此次发难恐将偷鸡不成蚀把米。因为据科技博客Tea Leaf Nation报道，中央台竟然鼓励（也许是雇佣）社交媒体名人，其中包括一位为三星代言的台湾歌手兼电影明星，在新浪微博（相当于中国的Twitter）上发微博炮轰苹果。

    而苹果还是一向的低调。它拒绝采访，只是发布了一条无关痛痒的声明：“苹果在中国的保修政策和美国以及全球其它国家‘基本一致’。”

    这无疑让情况变得更糟糕。

    本周一，中国政府加大火力。《人民日报》发表重量级社论，猛烈抨击苹果“无以伦比”的傲慢。《人民日报》可是中国共产党党报。（翻译版见此。）

    西方分析师认为，中国政府此举意在力捧正蓬勃发展的国产智能手机行业。不管这个行动动机如何，苹果粉丝们为此在社交媒体上可闹翻了天。路透社的梅勒妮•李梳理了大量微博和中文博客，挑选了下面几条非常有意思的发言。

    “《人民日报》根本是羡慕嫉妒恨。如此老掉牙的招式只能令人生厌。”

    • “我们老百姓觉得苹果不错，政府倒够呛。明明保修政策得到了执行，为什么要单单找（苹果的）茬？”

    • “你们是不是想转移我们注意力？让老百姓对这样鸡毛蒜皮的小事怨声载道？放着毒空气、毒水、毒奶粉不管……我们又不是傻子！”

    李的报道全文见此。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    In the middle of a war of words between his customers and the government of his second largest market is probably the last place CEO Tim Cook wants to be right now. But that's where Apple (AAPL) finds itself today, according to Popularity helps buffer Apple from Chinese state-media attacks, an item that moved on the Reuters newswire Wednesday morning.

    It's the latest twist in a story that began two weeks ago when CCTV, China's powerful state television network, accused Apple in one of its most popular shows of discriminating against Chinese users by swapping new iPhones returned for repair with refurbished iPhones with shorter warranties.

    The CCTV attack backfired somewhat when Tea Leaf Nation revealed that the network had been encouraging (and perhaps paying) social media celebrities -- including a Taiwanese singer/movie star who moonlights as a Samsung spokesperson -- to post expressions of outrage on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

    Apple, as usual, tried to keep a low profile, ducking reporters and issuing a bland and somewhat unhelpful statement that "Apple's Chinese warranty is more or less the same as in the U.S. and all over the world."

    That just made matters worse.

    On Monday, the Chinese government doubled down, lashing out at Apple's "unparalleled arrogance" in a prominent editorial in the People's Daily, the propaganda organ of the Chinese Communist Party. (Translation here.)

    Western analysts assumed that the Party was attacking Apple to boost the prospects of China's growing ranks of homegrown smartphone manufacturers. Whatever the motivation, it sparked another social media ruckus, this time among Apple partisans. Combing through Weibo and Chinese-language blogs, Reuters' Melanie Lee captured the flavor of the backlash with some priceless quotes:

    • "Shameless People's Daily jealously scolding people... A brain-dead product of the Cultural Revolution, old and so disgusting."

    • "We ordinary people feel that Apple is good and the government is trash. There's obviously an implemented warranty policy, why must (Apple) be treated differently?"

    • "Do you wish to transfer our focus? Get the ordinary people to curse and blame useless things? There's toxic air, toxic water and tainted milk...We are not fools!"

    You can read Lee's piece here.