The fact that there is better technology which does not require shoppers to buy an overpriced phone does not seem to have occurred to them. Neither has the fact that retails might be able to organise their own payment schemes without being charged a premium to be told what to do by Jobs' Mob.

"Apple Pay is a product that has thus far seemed to mirror many successful productsApple has launched before it," whinged Tame Apple Press "As was the case with the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple was not the first company to enter this emerging category."

However even BCM has to admit that Apple Pay has hit its "the first major hurdle" which is somewhat of a an understatement.

With the US wavering on Apple Pay. Jobs' Mob needs to convince the Chinese to use it. Apparently the state owned debit and credit transaction processing company is just laughing.

It is a case of reality distortion field meets ideology – why should the Chinese hand over any part of its economy to a secretive US cult.

They are not the only one, the People's Bank of China official said that Apple has not yet begun working with China's regulatory body regarding Apple Pay and as a result, "it's unclear whether the product meets the government's requirements" to launch in the country.

In desperation, Apple has been trying to get Alibaba onside regarding a potential mobile payment partnership in the region, but has also been told to go forth and multiply.

China was necessary to give Apple Pay some momentum. If it can make it big there, it might convince all the opposition in the US to the plan to fall in line. After all if you have millions of customers already, it proves the system.

Already the US retailers are looking to follow their own scheme, some have even been disconnection Apple payments systems from their store. With China out of the picture, it is looking like Apple Pay will die on the vine.

Of course the Tame Apple Press is only saying that its "Chinese invasion" has "stalled."  This is a bit like saying that you stalled your car when the engine dropped out, fell off a bridge into a river, where it was carried out to see and eaten by a whale.  We think the world they were looking for was "doomed" or "buggered."