The Dalai Lama is hailed a separatist by China and his mere photos are banned in Tibet. In spite of this, he is known for his charisma and has the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. Ribeya Kadeer, on the other hand, has been branded a criminal by the Chinese government having been accused of instigating a riot in the Muslim-dominated city of Urumqi that left almost 200 people dead in July 2009.

Recently, iPhone apps have been been developed that were related to these two activists – at least five to the Dalai Lama and one to Kadeer. These software programs are reportedly not available in Apple’s China App Store.

Reports from IDG News Service, publisher of a number of technology-related magazines like PC World and Macworld, confirmed that five test searches for the Dalai Lama on the Apps Store only yielded one very vague result and searches for Kadeer did not produce any result.

Apple, through its spokeswoman Trudy Muller, issued a statement that the company was only complying to Chinese laws. China has a history of blocking websites and programs the communist leaders deem as threats. Big US companies like Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft have been accused of helping the Great Firewall of China to prosper.

iPhone users and apps developers are now hoping for Apple to release a list of blocked applications for more transparency on the company’s part.