Thanks for calling our attention to these articles. They're very well researched and written. There are a few things that stood out to me:

1) Just prior to the beginning of this buildup of Apple operations in China, US politicians were encouraging companies to do just that - hoping it would influence China toward democratic values. - China has an interesting history of conflicts between Communism and Capitalism, that I read about in an Alan Greenspan autobiography. I think the illustration of Apple engineers asking technical questions of suppliers until they work their way down the chain of authority to where the questions can be answered is a step toward a more capitalist economic system.

2) It's interesting to see that Apple has reduced their ownership of equipment in China. Reading the first article, my concern was China kicking Apple out, and giving their equipment to others. With less equipment owned by Apple, this (maybe ever so slightly) reduces their likely damages. Still, I see it as a drawback that so much knowledge and equipment is in a country that could decide to take it all back. Whoever takes over would have an automatic 20% share of Apple's market, as China would likely decide to ban Apple products in conjunction with taking their business.

3) I think it's little consolation that "The candidate in the best position to become a rival to China as a new hub of manufacturing is India, which is expected to surpass it as the world's most populous country this year." India is one of just a few UN countries not on board with sanctioning Russia for their war against Ukraine. And, although we'd expect they'd take a neutral position in a US-China conflict, I don't think it's assured.