Lotte is for many South Koreans and Japanese as lamblike a brand as Disney, but behind the amusements parks and cinemas lies a Machiavellian political saga that reads more like a scene from Game of Thrones than The Aristocats.
By David Josef Volodzko
South China Morning Post
Sep 3, 2016
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For years, Tim Cook insisted Apple could change China from the inside. Instead, China changed Apple.
The latest evidence? Apple spent billions developing cutting-edge electric vehicle battery technology with Chinese automaker BYD, only to watch its innovations become the cornerstone of BYD’s rise to global electric vehicle dominance. Apple walked away with nothing. China walked away with everything.
This isn’t just another story about corporate research and development gone wrong. It’s a cautionary tale about how even America’s most valuable company has become trapped in China’s web of technological control — and how that web is about to tighten even further.