AppleInsider | China Mobile asking Apple to intentionally cripple iPhones

"China Mobile is eventually expected to offer the iPhone to mainland China but has requested that Apple deliver a model with Wi-Fi and 3G technology disabled, according to the South China Morning Post.

The paper cited a Daiwa Institute of Research analyst as saying Beijing has not yet approved handsets with such features, and that Apple's iPhone manufacturing partner Foxconn is now waiting for authorization to begin shipping models to China Mobile with the W-CDMA and Wi-Fi chips disabled. "

Appleinsider.com