Apple said on Friday that it had removed the Meta-owned apps WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China after orders from Beijing, a move that could potentially intensify the escalating technological battle between the United States and China.

The iPhone maker stated that China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration, had instructed the removal of the two apps due to national security concerns. Apple complied, saying, “we are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.”

According to a person familiar with the situation, the Chinese government found content on WhatsApp and Threads related to President Xi Jinping that was deemed inflammatory and in violation of the country’s cybersecurity laws. However, the specifics of the content were unclear. An Apple spokesperson denied that the apps were removed due to inflammatory content about Mr. Xi.

The crackdown extended beyond Meta’s apps, with several other global messaging services, including Signal and Telegram, also being pulled from Apple’s App Store in China on Friday, according to market research firm Appfigures.

This development thrusts Apple and Meta into the intensifying technological tussle between the U.S. and China. In the United States, the House of Representatives is preparing to vote as soon as this weekend on a bill that would force the Chinese company ByteDance to sell its popular video app TikTok or face a ban, citing national security threats due to its ties to China. The White House has also worked to restrict Beijing’s access to advanced technologies that could be used in warfare and has extended restrictions on American dollars financing the development of such technologies within China’s borders. Beijing has retaliated by banning memory chips from U.S. chipmaker Micron and moving to curb other American chip companies’ sales.

While WhatsApp and Threads were permitted in China’s app stores, their usage was dwarfed by domestic apps like WeChat, owned by Tencent. Still, some Chinese users could access WhatsApp through virtual private networks (VPNs) used to bypass the country’s internet censorship system, known as the Great Firewall.

Apple has been particularly vulnerable to the rising tensions between the U.S. and China. The company’s success has been built on tapping into China’s vast workforce and manufacturing capabilities to produce its iPhones, which it then sells to the country’s growing middle class. China now accounts for about a fifth of Apple’s annual sales, more than $68 billion last year.

For years, Apple has complied with Beijing’s demands to block an array of apps, including newspapers, VPNs, and encrypted messaging services. It has also built a data center in China to house Chinese citizens’ iCloud information, including personal contacts, photos, and emails.

As the relationship between the U.S. and China has deteriorated, Apple has begun diversifying its supply chain, assembling iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watches in India and Vietnam. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has been in Asia this week, visiting suppliers in Vietnam and discussing the possibility of building a manufacturing plant in Indonesia with the country’s president.

While the fallout for Meta may be less direct, given that many of its apps were already banned in China, the company still generates revenue from Chinese companies like Temu and Shein, which pay for advertising on Instagram and Facebook.

Meta and Apple have long had an uneasy corporate relationship. Apple has introduced stricter restrictions on the types of tracking companies can do across its devices, severely curtailing Meta’s ability to gain insights into user behavior for its digital advertising business. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, has publicly criticized what he perceives as Apple’s overly restrictive privacy guidelines.

In the United States, the moves against TikTok have gained momentum in recent days, with House Speaker Mike Johnson packaging a measure to force ByteDance to sell the app with other bills on foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

House lawmakers are expected to vote on this package of legislation on Saturday. If passed, the measures will be sent as a single bill to the Senate, which could vote soon after. President Biden has said he would sign TikTok legislation into law if it reaches his desk.