Conservative websites and international media report that Apple CEO Tim Cook would have signed a $275 billion deal with China in 2016. The amount would be a kind of toll for the American giant to run its lucrative and vast businesses in the country without being bothered (further) by the repression of the communist government. At the same time, there was a commitment to “grow together with Chinese companies, to achieve mutual benefits”. The five-year deal was designed to appease Chinese government officials who felt Apple wasn’t investing enough in the Chinese economy. Any economics manual would define this as…