Recode:

If you want to do business in China, you have to play by its rules.

In case U.S. companies needed a reminder, China has served up a bold one in requiring Apple to pull down the New York Times app from its Chinese App Store.

Neither Apple nor China publicly specified what local laws the newspaper was breaking, but Apple said it was notified that the app had run afoul of the country’s rules.

“We have been informed that the app is in violation of local regulations,” Apple spokesman Fred Sainz told the Times. “As a result, the app must be taken down off the China App Store. When this situation changes, the App Store will once again offer the New York Times app for download in China.”

Ignoring Recode’s breathless “showing just how much power that country has over tech firms” (that’s been obvious for a very long time), it does shows who is more important to Apple.