Author Patrick McGee’s new book examines the geopolitical impact of Apple’s move to China

Author Patrick McGee, originally from Calgary, discusses his book, ‘Apple in China,’ which examines the financial relationship between the company and country.

Author Patrick McGee compares Apple moving into China to the fall of the Berlin Wall: “a geopolitical event of epic proportions.”

In his book, Apple in China, McGee warns of the risks of U.S. technology being used by China’s authoritarian regime.

“By giving engineering training to literally tens of millions of people in China, we have accidentally up-armed the military of our greatest adversary,” McGee told CTV News.

• Sign up for breaking news alerts from CTV News, right at your fingertips
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

McGee – who was born and raised in Calgary – also says moving iPhone production to the U.S. is not feasible, even as President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on China in the hopes of bringing manufacturing home.

• Watch the full interview with McGee in the video player above

“There’s a dynamism to how the population floats around. I mean, this is literally the term in China, ‘the floating population,’” McGee said.

“This is the number of people who live outside of their rural, hinterland provincial birthplace and move around the country for seasonal work. The number of the people in that population is greater than the U.S. labour force.”