The NBA is a spineless little bully
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
When I was a boy in school, I watched as one of the school bullies picked on another kid who was not much of a fighter. Then, after the bully walked away, the kid who had just been bullied turned around and picked on a smaller boy. The bullied boy who wouldn’t fight the tough kid was willing to pick on a smaller victim. Shades of the NBA.
Yes, this multi-billion dollar organization , which spans the globe, was happy to bully North Carolina in 2016 when the state had the audacity to declare that men’s bathrooms were for men and women’s bathrooms were for women. How dare the people of this largely conservative state be so discriminatory!
As a punishment, the NBA pulled its scheduled All-Star game from Charlotte. No way would this highly ethical organization be partner to such unfair treatment of the transgender community. No way would they put money before morality. Not a chance. Not the NBA. Right!
In point of fact, the NBA was simply marching to the beat of American political correctness, a beat to which its biggest corporate sponsors also marched. You had better believe this was about money more than morality, about dollars more than decency.
Back in 2016, when the NBA decided to relocate the 2017 All-Star game, the league put out a statement claiming that the North Carolina law was “discriminatory,” running counter to its “guiding principles of equality and mutual respect.” (I remind you that the law simply called for people to respect the privacy of men’s and women’s bathrooms, which is hardly “discriminatory” or unfair.)
But that same NBA has had no problem getting in bed with an oppressive country like China, which imprisons and tortures Christians and Muslims and others who do not toe the party line.
Tens of millions of people experience severe daily restrictions under the tyrannical policies of President Xi, with countless tens of thousands suffering right now in “reeducation camps” and jails.
As I noted in August, one of my friends in China related to me that he has “Chinese colleagues whose family members have received life sentences because of their faith.”
Arrests, brutal interrogations, imprisonments, disruption of meetings, beatings, destroying of “unauthorized” Bible and Christian books are increasingly common. In one instance that was shared with me, those owning non-approved bibles and other resources were hit with “stiff fines and the books earmarked for destruction. But not before they (the materials) were first dumped in piles on the street before they were carted off…followed by the pastor who was then sent to prison.”
And we know at least some of what is happening to the Muslim Uighurs in China, with as many as one million arrested and detained. Yet none of this stopped the NBA from bringing its teams to China and working with major Chinese companies for corporate sponsorships. After all, money talks!
And when one NBA team owner, Daryl Morey, had the temerity to post a criticism of China’s treatment of Hong Kong protesters, the league virtually threw him under the bus.
League chairman Adam Silver’s “defense” of this owner was far softer than his apologies, while outspoken NBA coaches, who frequently blast President Trump, were strangely silent. (Morey, for his part, has been publicly penitent, ruing his foolish tweet.)
Even the socially woke LeBron James claimed that Morey was “misinformed,” leading to his jerseys being burned in effigy in Hong Kong. (A USA Today commentator called this the most disgraceful moment of LeBron’s career. Please, LeBron, tell us plainly. Morey was “misinformed” about what?)
No wonder the protesters were indignant. The hypocrisy was beyond glaring – and from the league as a whole, not just LeBron or Silver.
To put things mildly, receiving a life sentence for being a Christian is far more discriminatory than telling a biological male he needs to use the men’s restroom. Confining one million Muslims to reeducation camps is a far greater threat to “guiding principles of equality and mutual respect” than saying that bathrooms and changing rooms are not gender neutral.
No wonder former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory said , “I see hypocrisy. They wanted to involve themselves with North Carolina commerce and an election, while not setting the same standard for China.”
He claimed to have the called the NBA out on its hypocrisy back in 2016, arguing that this was always about profit more than principle.
“They were losing some sponsorships; they told me that flat-out on the phone. . . . They got heavily involved with our community and elections while ignoring China.
“I told the commissioner they’ve got a lot of business in China. But they’ve got a lot of sponsors there, and that would cost them hundreds of millions.”
And heaven forbid that the NBA would lose hundreds of millions of dollars because of petty human rights violations like the oppression of hundreds of millions of people, including arrest, torture, and even execution.
But the NBA is not alone in its hypocrisy. As I noted in 2016, other major corporations, like Starbucks and Apple, “blast Americans who stand for religious liberties and conservative moral values, even threatening states that will protect those liberties and values, claiming this discriminates against gays and lesbians.
“Yet they have stores all over Saudi Arabia, a country where gays can be executed and where Muslims can kill their own family members if they convert to Christianity.” And they do major business with China as well. (Starbucks boasts about this.)
So, to the NBA (and your equally hypocritical cohorts), it’s time to put morality first and money second.
Stand up to the big bullies of this world, the corporate giants like China, and tell them, “As long as you oppress and muzzle your populace, you don’t get our business.”
Then, live with the loss and show some character, and we will applaud your courage.
So far, I’ve seen anything but courage in this hypocritical display.
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Even the socially woke LeBron James claimed that Morey was “misinformed,” leading to his jerseys being burned in effigy in Hong Kong. (A USA Todaycommentator called this the most disgraceful moment of LeBron’s career. Please, LeBron, tell us plainly. Morey was “misinformed” about what?)
No wonder the protesters were indignant. The hypocrisy was beyond glaring – and from the league as a whole, not just LeBron or Silver.
To put things mildly, receiving a life sentence for being a Christian is far more discriminatory than telling a biological male he needs to use the men’s restroom. Confining one million Muslims to reeducation camps is a far greater threat to “guiding principles of equality and mutual respect” than saying that bathrooms and changing rooms are not gender neutral.
No wonder former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory said , “I see hypocrisy. They wanted to involve themselves with North Carolina commerce and an election, while not setting the same standard for China.”
He claimed to have the called the NBA out on its hypocrisy back in 2016, arguing that this was always about profit more than principle.
“They were losing some sponsorships; they told me that flat-out on the phone. . . . They got heavily involved with our community and elections while ignoring China.
“I told the commissioner they’ve got a lot of business in China. But they’ve got a lot of sponsors there, and that would cost them hundreds of millions.”
And heaven forbid that the NBA would lose hundreds of millions of dollars because of petty human rights violations like the oppression of hundreds of millions of people, including arrest, torture, and even execution.
But the NBA is not alone in its hypocrisy. As I noted in 2016, other major corporations, like Starbucks and Apple, “blast Americans who stand for religious liberties and conservative moral values, even threatening states that will protect those liberties and values, claiming this discriminates against gays and lesbians.
“Yet they have stores all over Saudi Arabia, a country where gays can be executed and where Muslims can kill their own family members if they convert to Christianity.” And they do major business with China as well. (Starbucks boasts about this.)
So, to the NBA (and your equally hypocritical cohorts), it’s time to put morality first and money second.
Stand up to the big bullies of this world, the corporate giants like China, and tell them, “As long as you oppress and muzzle your populace, you don’t get our business.”
[Deleted]
That’s so over the top and uncalled for for you to call me that. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Don't be silly-- there are a lot of things that could be further from the truth!
HA, have you condemned Trump for not backing the Hong Kong protesters yet?
He has pushed for a humane solution to Hong Kong. The only way that is possible is for China to abide by the commitments it made to the one country two systems deal to last 50 years made 22 years ago.
Link?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7546861/amp/U-S-China-deputy-level-trade-talks-underway-tense-atmosphere.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/trump-urges-humane-solution-in-hong-kong%3famp
Trump should say it to the criminal rioters who are smashing public property, private property, and causing an economic disaster to Hong Kong.
The criminal rioters as you call them are us. They are attempting to become/ remain as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK are. Americans came out of that ourselves against a great empire then too. We resisted England until they tried to crush us and then we outlasted them. Those millions in Hong Kong are playing our national anthem not the mainlands and they are using the Statue of Liberty 🗽 like the Chinese themselves did in the late 1980’s. Today’s chinese middle class and the people of the Republic of China 🇹🇼 will be watching how this turns out. How will China 🇨🇳 persuade Taiwan to willingly join with them if China treats Hong Kong 🇭🇰 poorly. Sadly on Hong Kong, you and most Americans will have to agree to disagree.
Speak for yourself. I don't wear a mask and use a steel pipe to smash windows of privately owned shops and ticket machines in subway stations or airports. I watched that happening on TV.
America didn't have a date in the near future when it would become part of the British Empire and required to do so by overwhelming force. All I see is a lot of destruction, wasted time and effort on the part of the rioters that is making life miserable to the ordinary citizens of Hong Kong, and ruining the economy of that city for their own detriment as well.
When I said us i wasn’t referring to you and me but us as in me and other Americans. When we rebelled against the British Empire we did the Tea Party and a great many other acts of disobedience and disruption against the king and parliament of those days. Hong Kong has 28 years left before it has to be incorporated into the rest of China. Hopefully by then China will be worth joining willingly. Right now it’s trending the wrong way and Taiwan would be wise to acquire a nuclear deterrent to preserve its independence until China is more like it.
I assumed you meant "us" to mean Americans generally.
Taiwan will NEVER be equipped with a nuclear deterrent - you can bet on that, unless it becomes unified with the Chinese mainland. Don't even DREAM that China would allow that to happen.
I’m not suggesting that we supply them with one. They are as capable as any nation on earth without one to gain one discreetly. Short of that the American security commitment to defend the ROC against aggression is still active.
Yes, America has proven how loyal it can be..............
Perhaps you've only seen what the Chinese government wants you to see on TV.
If that were so, why would China want the mainland citizens see Hong Kong Chinese citizens demanding democratic rights and rioting in an attempt to force it? That makes no sense to me. as it would be considered to motivate unrest among the mainland citizens and perhaps lead to another Tiananmen Square rebellion. But the government did NOT censor it.
I guess that when you don't have a free press you never know for sure.
Maybe I will know, if I can believe the countless internet news sites I can open from the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Israel, etc etc etc,
Do you believe this one?
"We’re Almost Extinct’: China’s Investigative Journalists Are Silenced Under Xi"
LOL. NO WONDER I can't open the New York Times.
Image captionProtesters held signs and wore masks during the pre-season basketball game in New YorkDozens of spectators at a US basketball game have held signs and donned T-shirts and masks in support of protests in Hong Kong.
Demonstrators gathered during a match in New York between the Brooklyn Nets and the Toronto Raptors.
The move was organised by film producer Andrew Duncan, who bought 300 tickets for the activists.
It comes amid an ongoing row between China and the NBA over the protests that have rocked Hong Kong since March.
Images from the pre-season game on Friday show demonstrators wearing T-shirts emblazoned with "Stand With Hong Kong" and "Free Tibet".
Two other people were also pictured wearing Winnie-the-Pooh costumes. The cartoon bear is used as a symbol to mock Chinese President Xi Jinping and is banned in China.
Footage from the protest was shared on social media. Among the group was Hong Kong activist Nathan Law, the former chairman of Demosisto, a pro-democracy party he co-founded with fellow campaigner Joshua Wong.
" We want to use our performance art to show our support for Hong Kong and the NBA," another spectator, Chen Pokong, 55, told the New York Post. "[China wants] to take away freedom of speech and now spread dictatorship to America."
Local media report that some of demonstrators were ejected from the game for chanting.
Similar demonstrations have already been held at other games between American and Chinese teams. Earlier this month, during a match between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Guangzhou Loong-Lions, two people were asked to leave for holding signs in support of Hong Kong protests.
At another game between the Loong-Lions and the Washington Wizards, local media report that spectators had their pro-Hong Kong signs confiscated.
But Friday's protest was the first to be held during a match between two American NBA teams....
While the NBA is a bullying entity that is putting money over American principles and free speech, the fans stand with those promoting freedom and democracy in all of Hong Kong and the Republic of China on Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China.
You don't want problems, then don't proselytize. You think that American democracy is so perfect that you need to try to change the rest of the world to be in America's image? You think your religion is so perfect that you have to try to change everybody to be Christians? Believe it or not, there are many who feel differently. As well, maybe you should just stay in your own backyard and not try to make others to be in your image. Your image is not so perfect. And when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
I do think that American democracy in particular and western democracy ideals in general are worth spreading as ideas everywhere on earth. I do not advocate using military might to impose it or any other ideology upon another nation. I do not oppose the use of our military might to protect other nations every where who have made that choice from those who have not.
As to my religion, the last thing on earth I want is to force others to believe as I do or even similarly. I know my religion and my denomination within it as followed by us fallen humans aren’t perfect but the founder and author of it is. While I don’t want to force anyone or any country to believe I want for everyone everywhere to have the opportunity to make that choice if they want to. There is no need for me to go to China to promote Christian belief There as there are millions of Chinese Christians there to do so.
So reeducation camps and lifetime imprisonment for religious beliefs is OK?
Wow, just wow.
I am willing to admit the US is fucked up. We like to stick our military noses in every place possible and bring "our brand" of democracy; no matter how unprepared the country we introduce it to is. We absolutely suck at nation building, but we keep right on trying it. We will side with any terrorist group no matter how vile over any pro Russian government anywhere. We will give billions in military and financial aid to any country we deem an ally; no matter what their human rights track record is.
That being said what is happening the China is far worse than what we impose on our own people.
The empire of Rome died long ago. Rather violently at that. China might be lining itself up for a similar fate.
Continuing with 5000 years of history, common sense long term planning, lifting all of its people out of poverty and allowing for free enterprise and personal ownership, providing its people with "bread and circuses", extending its influence throughout the world and bound to become the world's number 1 country, I truly doubt it.
"There is no need for me to go to China to promote Christian belief There as there are millions of Chinese Christians there to do so."
"...to promote Christian belief." Nothing wrong with "living" it, but if they want to "promote" it, they will end up like the Falun Gong. My wife and my wife's family LIVE Buddhism, and nobody sees anything wrong with that, but if they wanted to "promote" it, that is where a problem will occur.
And why is that the case?
And when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
So in Germany in the 30's, it would be uncouth to complain about the treatment of the Jews.
Sad to see...
And this one has pictures too, so very easy to understand, and is much more complete. Why don't you spend about a half hour or so to go through the list of Chinese inventions that have benefited the world:
Oh, and by the way, how many of those things has America copied?
Trump is right when he says that if Hillary had won, China would have the number one economy now. Our economy expanded and at a good pace compared to what Hillary would have done and his policies in concert returned manufacturing to America with tax cuts and cheap domestic natural gas. Unlike Hillary he confronted China on piracy, intellectual property theft, currency manipulation, and restrictions on their imports, and product dumping. Just in time he confronted them before it was to late and while we still have the power to economically break them. He doesn’t want it to come to that. He wants a working and fair relationship with China but will put America first if we can’t work it out. Trump blames past American leadership for today’s situation rather than China. I think a deal will be worked out this year into early next year as they realize he’s likely to be re-elected and a deal now is better than one after that.
LOL, I just realized that that comment was even more ignorant than I first thought because the restaurant menu was invented in China.
Source?
There is no known original source though it is fitting in the context here as it is a way authoritarians use punishment to enforce morale and order.
I’m shocked to see someone who spent the majority of their life in our closest ally and then choose to advocate for that system instead of the one born and raised in. It’s one thing to speak out if an adopted new home is under some unprovoked or unreasoned propaganda diatribe but that is clearly not the case here.
What is your opinion about what the "people" are going to do about all that "wicked scheming"? Going to nuke China?
LOL. "You talking about me?" (Robert diNiro in Taxi Driver)
I am not a Communist. I have supported the Progressive Conservative Parties of Ontario and Canada for the past 40 years. However, I mind my own business and have been made very welcome here because I am not critical of the government, but neither do I praise it. Seems to me that a lot of Americans are not minding THEIR own business - are so unhappy with their own government that they have to find a country to blame for their troubles.
I hope to God that that option never happens with any countries in the world.
I never said you are a communist. I already knew that. I guess living where you do and the high tech spying and constant surveillance and the social credit scoring system there isn’t much choice but to defend the regime to us outsiders.
Most of us who are happy with Trump and our government in general are America first and more likely to stand with Hong Kong and Taipei and support tariffs to get a fair trade deal. It is establishment GOP and most democrats who are unhappy with government here who are most supportive of giving away American global leadership to China.
Same thing the Romans felt during the Roman empire.
No empire is forever. China will be destroyed from within, just like Russia was, and just like the US will be some day.
LOL. Crickets.
(Self-deleted for context)
I don't HAVE to defend the regime, all I do is correct the misconceptions of those who have never been here and who think their own system is so perfect that anything else is wrong and requires correction.
Still waiting for the source of your comment above - guess there isn't one.
Aha-- just as we suspected!
(if that isn't proof, I don't know what is!)
Winnie is banned by the regime over there
Such a big concern about the Uighurs? Well, China is not going to become like Europe that not only tolerates the terrorism and separatism it is suffering, but Europe even criminalizes anyone who complains about it. And as for Hong Kong, which is going to become part and parcel of mainland China totally subject to the central government in 2047, the violence and damage caused by the rioters will get them nowhere. As for the complaints about what China is doing, America and Americans can mind their own fucking business. Did China complain about the internment of the Japanese?
The seeded article is about the NBA and what it is doing and saying much more so than it is about China. The author is right in what he said. As to the post with the BBC content, it was about our own domestic matters. Foreigners have no right to demand what Americans in America think, say, believe, or demonstrate about.
And so....if you believe that, why can't China say the same?
In 2047, I’ll be silent as to what happens in Hong Kong. In the meantime, I will continue to advocate for all sides living up to the two systems treaty involving it. If China is too heavy handed a lot of Chinese from Hong Hong will end up in the Vancouver in your nation.
Most of the citizens of Hong Kong just want peace and quiet and a continuation of their happy life. Vancouver doesn't need a bunch of criminal destructive rioters. I don' t know if you've seen videos of their smashing things, but I have.
It won’t likely be the students among the two million Hong Kong protestors who leave Hong Kong in the event of China abrogating and reneging on the one country two systems for 50 years and prematurely occupying it. Many Hong Kong people got Canadian, Australian, and other passports back when China and the UK were negotiating and now freely move around the world. Many who can leave for the west or points down under.
As for the complaints about what China is doing, America and Americans can mind their own fucking business. Did China complain about the internment of the Japanese?
These people are typical Neo-Cons-- always interfering in other country's business!
ou keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
as opposed to America’s Progressives who will side with the other nation in a dispute with America almost every time.
Yes, Obama is a fucking neocon by your definition! Thank you. Talk about interfering in other countries' business, he was the king of it.
Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Israel, and Britain.
If you need to know how he interfered in each, then google is your friend.
At least they aren't selling out the USA to win an election.
US internment of Japanese citizens was a black mark on our history. One of many. Are they still interned? Were any of them sentence to life; or forced to reeducation centers to give up their religion or culture?
What was left of China at that point in history probably cheered.
The Japanese had already conquered Korea, Taiwan, Manchuria and parts of Russia, Vietnam, Laos & Thailand.
Japan was a scourge on the planet from 1931 to 1945.
JFC! China has corporate America by the 'nads'. When you walk the line be sure to have your feet on both sides of that line. The hell with what's right and that freedom and democracy thing.
After all, don't want to screw up the 'greatest economy the World has ever seen,' right? Double JFC.
CH4P. I roundly bequeath the most sincere and humble accolade that has ever been given since the fall of The Roman Empire.
I’m speechless. Perhaps it took what happened between China and the NBA upper management and elite players putting money over the bill of rights, free speech, and the American fans and workers to unify our left and right at least on something.
BLAME CHINA
It needs a South Park episode. Withdraw the "Blame Canada" one and do "Blame China". Of course the Chinese won't see it because it is banned in China for making fun of Xi Jinping, comparing him to Winnie the Pooh. Oh, now even Winnie the Pooh is banned. The kids will grow up deprived - have to intern them in a re-education camp so they won't revolt.
Whatever happened to America becoming isolationist? Seems to me there's more concern about China than there is about America's problems. Maybe that's to deflect from being concerned about what's happening in America.
TRY LOOKING IN THE MIRROR.
Isn't hatred such a comfortable feeling?
Absolutely voted you up. Supply Side rules.
The NBA is no different than Nike or Apple or countless other billion dollar corporations. They’ve figured out the easiest way to generate good free publicity is to parrot progressive criticisms of America, because they will be rewarded for their “courage” by the liberal media. It doesn’t matter how many sweatshops you run, complain about laws that keep men from pissing in a women’s bathroom, and you are golden and can do as much business as you want with totalitarian dictatorships that abuse rights.
As long these corporations say the right thing in America, they are free to exploit the world with progressives support. Their stars and hypocrites likes Steve Kerr and Greg Popovich are just as shameless. Their “wokeness” ends as soon it impacts their million dollar income stream. Real easy to “speak out” when you are rewarded for it with praise and endorsement money.
Sad but true. Americans have always stood with those fighting for freedom and liberty against fascist and communist regimes. Despite the deals of the elites, most Americans side with underdogs fighting against those kind of regimes. It is only natural that like Tianemen Square in the late 80’s with the man standing in front of a tank Americans who supported that then would support Hong Kong 🇭🇰 now. We want to see Hong Kong in 2047 join in with a China that has by then emulated their system. One country one system.
You are so right on. I’m a Warriors fan since childhood and their coach irks my last nerve. He always bashes America and picks at our every fault while ignoring all that is great about our country while papering over the sheer and utter fascist thug brutality of the Chinese regime and how it treats its own people who have religious beliefs and or disagree with anything at all that the dear leader does. Perhaps he and the players who genuflect before that regime can play over there for them instead of here for us. V
They should just stick to what they are being overpaid for.....basketball.
So? Different country, different laws. Don't like it, move.
Around 1-2 hundred million are just going to up and move out of China? Really? Where are they going to go? They are Chinese citizens and many have been from families that have been Christian many generations. It wasn’t illegal to be a Christian in China until 1949 and even then most went underground rather than give up their faith. The other issue with asking them to move is that communist regimes are reluctant to let dissidents just up and leave. The fascist regime in China would likely be no different. Proof of this one way or the other will be how many from Hong Kong will be able to leave after the regimes tanks rumble through their streets.
Unless the Chinese people stay and the government moves to Mar a Lago.
LOL. I think they would prefer Singapore.
What is it with totalitarian regimes and sports?
On Oct. 4, Houston Rockets’ General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for the democracy protesters in Hong Kong. His message was beautifully unambiguous: “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”
Predictably, the Chinese regime immediately wished to silence Morey and demanded that he be fired. Chinese companies suspended business partnerships with the NBA and state-run television cancelled broadcasts of the games. Evidently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) doesn’t like it when free people speak up for the freedoms of other people. In fact, they hate it.
The Best Players Money Can Buy
Sadly, Rockets teammates James Harden and Russell Westbrook couldn’t find it within themselves to support either Morey or the people of Hong Kong. Instead, they issued a joint statement to the Chinese government: “We apologize … You know, we love China. We love playing there. They show us the most important love.”
One has to wonder just what could these two players possibly mean by “most important love?”
Even the NBA’s top player, LeBron James, who earns in excess of $100 million per year and has a net worth of almost a half-billion dollars, threw the people of Hong Kong under the bus. James went on to explain that “people (meaning the Laker players?) could have been hurt physically or financially hurt” from Morey’s tweet. He criticized Morey as not being “educated on the situation at hand.”
The situation, for the edification of Mr. James, is rather simple. Hongkongers don’t want to be subjugated by the most brutal and oppressive regime on the face of the earth. Therefore, they are fighting against it.
On the flip side, who would defend such a regime, especially one that would physically intimidate or even hurt a visiting athlete? What kind of person would do that? One, evidently, who thinks with his wallet. Or, perhaps, not at all.
To his great credit, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated that, “The NBA will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say on these issues. We simply could not operate that way.”
CCP is a Business Master, NOT a Partner
The fact is that the NBA does stand to lose a lot of money if they lose the China market. But, as Silver pointed out in so many words, the NBA is not the North American division of China’s thought police. Not yet, anyway.
Another fact is that China has no intention of becoming a business partner with the NBA. If four decades of forced technology transfers through compelled joint venture schemes tell us anything about the CCP, it’s that they have no use for business partners. The CCP is not in the business of partnership.
More accurately, the CCP is in the business of control. Absolute control. And it will use every engagement with American companies, culture, entertainment and education to incrementally gain control and use it for their own purposes. Their purpose is to dominate the world in every aspect that matters. To do so, they must first eliminate the power and influence of the United States.
There’s a reason why the Hongkongers wave American flags and appeal to the United States for help. What other nation in the world is strong enough to defend freedom?
Letting the World Down to Get Even Richer
That’s why it’s so disappointing to see how some of the biggest names in basketball know or care so little about what freedom is, or what it takes to gain and hold onto it. They’re letting the world down to put more money in their pockets. Perhaps a stroll in downtown Hong Kong on a Saturday night would help them better understand.
Ironically, the last time so much was riding on basketball was when the United States played the Russians in the 1972 Olympic finals. At that time, the Soviet Union was the global challenger to the United States and China was still a backward, agrarian bicycle kingdom enduring grinding poverty and deprivation at the hands of the CCP. The Russians eventually “beat” the U.S. team after the third ending of the game.
But really, this isn’t about basketball, selling billions of dollars of team merchandise or even about the NBA. It’s about the struggle between two political systems and two countries. China is using its huge market as a lure to convince extremely well-paid players and the NBA itself that their interests lie in kneeling before China rather than standing up for the United States. But it’s even more than that. It’s nothing less than a battle for civilizational survival.
Testing America’s Resolve
China is betting that the NBA and its players are all about money. They’re testing America’s—and Americans’—resolve to stand up for their principles. The CCP’s strategy appears to be to reposition the NBA’s financial center of gravity to China. To that effect, the message that the Chinese are sending to the NBA and the basketball players is simple: you can get much richer if you play your game on our courts; just shut your mouth and do what we say.
However, rather than give in to China’s bully/bribe tactics, perhaps the players, coaches, owners and NBA officials should choose to make a bit less money in exchange for something much more valuable: their integrity in standing for, and yes, defending the greatest of human values.
Shove Back at the CCP
What’s more, it seems that the NBA and its players don’t realize the true power they possess. They don’t have to give in to China to do well financially. Why not push back against the CCP? Better yet, shove back—and shove hard.
Let the CCP deal with the social consequences of cutting out the NBA from China’s basketball-hungry youth. Isolate China as the moral pariah that it is. Punish the CCP for being so cruel and inhumane to so many people. Let the CCP bear the blame for it all. Let the Party sweat the potential unrest of trying to put a good face on an ugly outcome.
Let Lebron James be educated on the situation at hand.
LOL. I'll bet THAT source wouldn't pass ANY fact/bias checker - I had to laugh at some of the extreme language and unbelievably biased exaggerations. Here's just a couple:
If that were true I sure as hell wouldn't be here.
Compelled? Nobody is forced to do business in China. If sharing technology is a requirement for doing business in China, either a company will follow the rules or they are completely free to go somewhere else - the companies are not slaves, they aren't FORCED to do business in China. I think the word "greed" might well apply.
I would like to know if there is a legitimate source for this:
- because as far as I know the only places where athletes deliberately got hurt by someone was in America when a competitor smashed the knee of a figure skater, and Munich where the Israeli athletes were murdered. Either come up with a legitimate source or the author is just telling yet another lie.
That article borders on being RACIST. I wonder how the American government would react if China started making a lot of noise about how the Native Americans have been treated. The fact that a bill is being proposed to pass that is a direct American government interference with the sovereign rights of another country sure as hell amazes me - seems like a bit of hypocrisy, eh?
Islam is not a race, it's a religion. There are peaceful Muslims all over China - one of the biggest mosques I've ever seen is in the city in which I'm living. A lot of restaurants are owned and run by Muslims here and I prefer them to others because I like lamb more than pork. Many students I taught were Muslims. The Uighurs are separatists, and a few years back they carried out an act of terrorism that killed a number of innocent people.
Thank God For Shaq: The Big Aristotle Defends Free Speech Against China
Source: AP Photo/Chris Carlson
Tuesday night is the opening of the NBA 2019-2020 season and just two weeks since the professional basketball league sparked international outcry after various players refused to stand in support of Hong Kong protestors and instead chose demonize Houston Rockets executive Daryl Morey for tweeting support for the democratic demonstrators who demand freedom from communist China. Very few associated with the league have defended Morey and free speech, but on Tuesday night Shaquille O'Neal -- aka The Big Aristotle, The Diesel, Big Fella, whatever you want to call him -- spoke his mind on TNT's pre-game coverage.
Morey, as a reminder, tweeted "FIGHT FOR FREEDOM. STAND WITH HONG KONG." League representatives quickly apologized to the Chinese government for the tweet. Current players and coaches like Los Angeles Lakers' star LeBron James and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, have refused to support Hong Kong protesters.
But on opening night, as highlighted by The New York Post, Shaq told the world that "As American people, we do a lot of business in China...And they know and understand our values and we understand their values. And one of our best values in America is free speech.
"We’re allowed to say what we want to say and we’re allowed to speak up on injustices, and that’s just how it goes," he added.
“Daryl Morey was right," Shaq stated. “Whenever you see something going on wrong anywhere in the world, you should have the right to say ‘That’s not right,’ and that’s what he did." Shaq is one of the league's most famous players ever. He has played for for six teams, was a 15-time NBA All-Star. and won four NBA championships, including three with Lakers and one with the Miami Heat.
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Shaq defends free speech on NBA opening night: ‘Daryl Morey was right’
By Tamar Lapin
Shaquille O’Neal defended free speech on opening night of the NBA season Tuesday — proclaiming that Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey “was right” to openly support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, despite the firestorm it ignited in China.
“As American people, we do a lot of business in China,” the retired basketball great said during TNT’s pre-game show. “And they know and understand our values and we understand their values. And one of our best values in America is free speech.
“We’re allowed to say what we want to say and we’re allowed to speak up on injustices, and that’s just how it goes.”
“Daryl Morey was right,” Shaq continued. “Whenever you see something going on wrong anywhere in the world, you should have the right to say ‘That’s not right,’ and that’s what he did.”
Though acknowledging that when it comes to business, “sometimes you have to tiptoe around things,” Shaq said that: “We have the right to speak.”
“Especially with social media. We can say whatever we want to say, when we want to say it.”
Commissioner Adam Silver said last week that the NBA had suffered “substantial” losses in China over Morey’s since-deleted Oct. 4 tweet that read: “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”
The NBA is standing by Morey despite what Silver said were demands by the Chinese government and business partners that he be fired.
Another controversy was ignited when Lakers superstar LeBron James criticized Morey’s support for the protesters.
James came under fire from US lawmakers and others who accused him of pandering to the repressive Chinese government or of being motivated by financial concerns.
USA TODAY
During a speech Thursday on Chinese-U.S. relations, Vice President Mike Pence criticized the NBA's handling of the fallout in China from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's pro-Hong Kong tweet.
Pence went so far as to accuse the league of "acting like a wholly owned subsidiary" of China's Communist Party and also blasted Nike for "checking its social conscience at the door."
NBA commissioner Adam Silver defended Morey's right of free speech and opted not to discipline him for tweeting "Fight for Freedom, stand with Hong Kong," but the league has significant business interests in China. Chinese state television did not air the preseason games played in the country earlier this month, when backlash from the tweet reached its apex.
NBA's China controversy: Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith debate “Some of the NBA’s biggest players and owners, who routinely exercise their freedom to criticize this country, lose their voices when it comes to the freedom and rights of other peoples,” Pence said in his speech, per CNBC.
“In siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of the authoritarian regime,” he later added.
In regards to Nike, Pence said the company "promotes itself as a so-called 'social justice champion,' but when it comes to Hong Kong, it prefers checking its social conscience at the door."
President Donald Trump previously called out Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for their comments on the China situation and said the NBA was "pandering" to China.
The NBA has not yet responded to USA TODAY Sports' request for comment regarding Pence's remarks.
Liberty and freedom are well worth fighting for.
Provided it's your own country, otherwise it's interfering.
Words are not interfering. Words are not fighting. The words in question were not spoken in China. It would be better to break off all relations of any kind and go into a complete Cold War with China than to allow them to in any way affect the free speech and personal liberty of Americans when they are not in China. Most individual Americans as well as our executive branch at least stand with the people of Hong Kong and identify with them. Two systems until 2047 is required for any kind of positive relationship between the USA and China. There are no doubt business people and establishment types in both parties who will want to do business in China no matter what but our grass roots and much of the typical civilian population stands with Hong Kong freedom til 2047.
Words can be as dangerous as weapons if they encourage, even motivate, a disturbance that becomes outright riots and damage the economy and the livelihoods of those who just want to continue living a peaceful life.
Hong Kong Pop Star Amplifies the Message of Freedom at New York Forum
NEW YORK—Hong Kong singer Denise Ho was met with a standing ovation on Oct. 24 in New York City’s Town Hall, where she and 10 other activists recounted their experiences challenging repressive regimes.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee that it retains the same degree of freedom and autonomy for the next half a century.
Since June, millions of Hong Kongers have marched against an extradition bill that they saw as a gateway for Beijing to further intrude in the city’s affairs. Protesters’ demands have since expanded to incorporate calls for greater democratic reform and universal suffrage.
“Who would have thought that Hong Kong, being this financial city where people previously only come up once in a while to protest, would become this most symbolic global icon of resilience in this year of 2019?” Ho, who has been a passionate advocate for the movement throughout, said to a packed audience of hundreds at the Oslo Freedom Forum.
The Hong Kong authorities formally withdrew the bill on Oct. 23, but to many, the decision was too late.
Ho showed picture after picture of protester injuries during clashes with the police, who have escalated their aggression as the protests have gone on: a journalist and a first-aider who suffered severe eye injuries after being shot by police pellet rounds, an 18-year-old protester shot by gunfire at point-blank range, and people facing police searches and being beaten for wearing protester gear.
Police have fired thousands of tear gas canisters and arrested over 2,600 people since the start of the protest.
Ho, rally organizer Jimmy Sham, and local lawmakers have all experienced mob attacks for their support of the protests.
“In the course of just four months, we have become a very different Hong Kong, and our demands have been clear and simple since day one: We want justice, we want freedom, and we want reform,” Ho said.
Unless these issues are addressed, there will be “no turning back to normal,” she said, adding that many Hongkongers believe that the extradition bill was the final straw in a battle between two different value systems: the mainland authoritarian regime and one that was moving towards democracy and had rule of law.
“The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] just could not comprehend why Hong Kong just would not back down,” Ho said. “We are not just another Chinese city. We are this very diverse city that embraces different cultures. We have held dear to our transparent institutions, our legislative and judicial system, and the freedom of expression.
“When these are ripped away from us, although we have not been known as the very revolting kind, we will fight back, and we fight hard,” she continued.
The fight, she emphasized, was not just between Hong Kong and Beijing, but tyrannies and the free world.
Just as with its handling with Hong Kong, the Chinese regime is now “working very hard to push their rules and priorities” in the West, she said, naming the NBA (National Basketball Association), Blizzard, Vans, and Apple among the latest examples of U.S. corporations succumbing to Beijing’s political pressure and silencing themselves on the Hong Kong issue.
“For anyone who believes that the world should be free, open, and civil, it should be alarming,” Ho said.
She led the crowd in chants of “Reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a popular protest slogan, before singing a Cantonese song “Polar,” which paints a picture of people setting out on a journey for light while surrounded by darkness.
“Stand strong for everything you believe in. You are not alone in this fight,” she said to those who stand with Hong Kong.
I certainly for the sake of the people of Hong Kong hope so.
The vast majority of whom do not take part in the protests/riots, shake their head in how it is damaging their municipality and just want to continue living their happy peaceful lives.
I just thought of this. When the Democrats rally and protest against the present administration, sometimes even violently, against Trump, does the Chinese government or people encourage their protests? They don't, because it's an internal matter and no fucking business of the Chinese. Why is it that Americans think what's good for them must be done by the rest of the world? Why is it that Christians and Muslims think their religions are so good they have to convert the rest of the world to their beliefs? What's good for General Bullmoose is good for the world?