Apple seems to have tweaked its iPhone to support a Chinese security protocol for wireless networks, as companies increasingly adopt Chinese government-backed technologies to break into the country’s market, reports “PC World” (http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/195524/apple_tweaks_wifi_in_iphone_to_use_china_protocol.html). The move suggests Apple may soon launch a new version of the iPhone in China with Wi-Fi, a feature that regulations previously barred, the article adds.

Chinese regulators last month approved the frequency ranges used by a new Apple mobile phone with 3G and wireless LAN support, the web site of China’s State Radio Monitoring Center shows. The device appears to be an iPhone and uses GSM and the 3G standard WCDMA, just like iPhones currently offered in China by local carrier China Unicom.

Apple removed Wi-Fi on the iPhones now sold in China because regulators there began approving mobile phones with WLAN support last year — and only if they supported a WAPI (WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure), a “homegrown” Chinese security protocol. Versions of the iPhone on sale now in China do not offer Wi-Fi.

The upcoming Apple phone does support WAPI, according to the Chinese regulatory site. If an iPhone with WAPI goes on sale, Apple would be one of the highest-profile companies to offer a device using the protocol, says “PC World.”