Principles must not be allowed to get in the way of commerce: China yesterday said that its temper tantrums over the introduction of a modicum of democracy in Hong Kong must not be allowed to impede Sino-British trade, and Apple Computer Inc and Williamson County, Texas have resolved their differences over Apple’s employee benefits policy by replacing the tax abatement Apple had been seeking with tax reimbursements allowed under the same provision in state law that permits counties to grant tax abatements – under the new agreement, Apple will receive about $1m in property tax rebates in exchange for the road improvements to be made by Apple, the developer and the current owner of the proposed facility site.