The main issue is most western corporations lack the diversity in the C-suite to handle a foreign market as big and as important as China. You want to guess what Cathay Pacific, Blizzard, Tiffany, The Gap, Marriott, United Airlines, NBA, Givenchy and Versace CEOs have in common with Huston Rocket’s Daryl Morey? Yeah, they all check the same box as Trump on the Census.
The biggest foreign market used to be Japan and you know the Japanese, even if they are offended they won’t tell you much less push back against their American occupier.
Want proof? Just read the comment section. NYTimes already moderated the most egregious examples but you can still find plenty of evidence of raw jingoism and racism in the comments. I don’t know any nation outside of NATO that believes their political system and culture are the best, the universal and the ultimate form every society will take. If aliens land tomorrow in Central Park someone is going to preach liberal democracy, capitalism, human rights and Christianity to the aliens.
1
Another case where disinformation is being slipped into the main stream: it's not been proven that the lady's eye was wounded by police. The lady refused to cooperate with the police, and blocked police from seeing her medical records.
1
@Ltyl Your not wrong as far as I'm aware, but really I think you're missing the point of the article if you are focusing so heavily on that aspect.
9
@Ltyl But they got them anyway, by court order, so we'll see.
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3026425/hong-kong-protests-police-given-medical-reports-woman-eye
1
@Ltyl
The police then managed to steamroll the hospital in complete violation of the lady’s privacy rights and obtained the data. The fact that they still haven’t come out to dispute the fact only proves her charge. Moreover, the police and administration refuse to agree to an independent review of police actions and brutal tactics which only fuels more questions about what they have to hide.
There, corrected your attempt to obfuscate the issue which incidentally had nothing to do with this article.
7
A list of companies with zero principles other than making a buck. How much are Americans willing to sacrifice to openly, vociferously boycott these companies?
3
We have so many "world class" consulting companies in the world including in Hong Kong and mainland China, and there got to be a few whose expertise is in China's politics.
Past experience has taught us how to navigate the business in a political arena. Current HK situation is no difference from many in the past. Companies should know how to stay clear from chaos and political traps.
There are thousands of foreign companies doing business in China. A few confronting Chinese regulation & rules are no surprise. If the market is worth the changing practice and attitude, companies will do it. If not, they will leave as simple as that.
5
Does appeasing or concessions stop bullies? No. They expand their territory and punish anyone who step into it. The three T's has now expanded into anything inconsistent with the propaganda set by President Xi, because some years ago global business leaders believe, or lead people to believe that trading with the bully can actually temper him down.
8
It’s appalling when corporations and sports leagues that grew up in the United States claim to be apolitical to gain a market.
Our American companies should stop apologizing for our American values and way of life. The Chinese can invent another “harmonious” sport and export it if they wish so. They can come to America too if they wish so.
5
@Linus
Basketball was invented by a Canadian for YMCA. I guess don’t play it if you aren’t a Canadian or Christian.
1
China and pro china persons not understand what is democracy , normally it'll think no one can scold china!
2
I’d recommend telling your kids to boycott Blizzard video games after the companies response to an esports player comments on Hong Kong. We have lots of problems here in ‘Murica that need addressing but that doesn’t mean we can’t stand in solidarity with Hong Protestors.
15
They didn't know supporting the HK protesters would anger Beijing? Really?
I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I find it a bit too convenient how this all played out to well for China.
1
Why multinationals have to care so much abt ccp ？ they should have united and threaten to leave China all together if treated wrong. The market will eventually be worth nothing if China’s economy is going worse , which is highly likely under ccp’ s control.
5
The NBA should have guts and pull out of China until they changed. I personally stopped watching NBA years ago and won't go back until NBA becomes a more civilized organization.
4
@Jon Yee
You in the US don’t watch NBA might be why they went to China in the first place. Ever think about that?
1
In September 2018, Jack Ma stepped down from his role in Alibaba to become a teacher and openly declared his loyalty to the Communist Party. State media complimented him for his reform. Following Jack Ma, Pony Ma voluntarily handed over Tencent, one of the largest Internet and technology companies in the world to the state. Joining them, Liu Chuanzhi of Lenova also stepped down to show his loyalty to the party. Personal power and popularity made successful entrepreneurs in China targets of the Communist Party.
Li Ka Shing, powerful Hong Kong property tycoon, also cannot escape China’s bully. China’s state media blamed Hong Kong’s crisis as a class struggle, calling Hong Kongers to “Fight the Landlord” —demanding Mr. Li be held responsible for the unrest.
To expand China’s global dominance, China make the world bow to its carrots and sticks economic might. Fear of being boycott and losing the market share, Gap and Marriott, Van, Givenchy, Coach, Tiffany, United Airlines and Versace have apologized and made concession to China for reasons such as showing support for Hong Kong's democracy battle or recognizing Taiwan as a separate country. Movie studios are sticking to script guidelines according to China’s state censors. Cathay Pacific employees are fired merely for showing their supports for Hong Kong in commentary on Facebook. Now even NBA, proud sportsmen of America, are bowing to China.
Thank God NY Times and South Park's creators are unflinching. And that is comforting.
17
China must really be rising up and overtaking the west. Otherwise why the obsession with a country on the other side of the world? There's a panoply of human rights violations worldwide, and in parallel to the Hong Kong protests there are even worse protests in Haiti where people are literally starving to death. Yet scant to no media coverage.
Even a US diplomat, Anne Sacoolas, killed a British young man by driving on the wrong side of the road in the UK in late August. The US government refused to waive her diplomatic immunity and she's now back in the US. I don't see any US politicians voicing moral outrage. So please spare us the garbage about universal human rights and free speech and all that tired old propaganda. You are no different than the communists frankly. At least they are honest about who they are.
11
China looks as thin-skinned and cranky as our current administration. No wonder they can't cut a deal.
9
The NBA, must simply cut all ties with China. China is basically run like the mafia.
7
South Park is now joining the long list of banned mediums for political expressions in Mainland China— including YouTube, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Dropbox, Wikipedia, Reddit, Netflix, WhatsApp, Medium, BBC, Gmail, TIME, Apple Daily, ABC News, The Economist, NBC, South China Morning Post, The Epoch Times, Al Jazeera.com, HBO…even the New York Times. 10,000 sites have already been blocked under the country’s internet censorship policy.
In July 2017, Bilibili, one of the most popular video sites in China, removed most of American & British TV shows, and all foreign categories like "American drama" to comply with regulations. In order to limit outside influence on Chinese society, the authority also restrict the publishing of children’s books written by foreign authors.
To defuse grievances, China has also banned any form of communication or contents that detailed suffering and brutality caused by this authoritarian regime, including civil movements or political struggles in Tibet, Xinjinag, Hong Kong, Taiwan, religious movement Falun Gong, Tiananmen Protest and Massacre of 1989, Moaism, police brutality, corruption, disparity of wealth, food safety scandals and gossip about party leaders’ life.
By harnessing the invincible power of censors, China is breeding blind obedience and cultivating dangerous patriotism the world should be alert of. South Park being banned isn’t funny if we really read into it.
14
Oh wow, catering to an oppressive, totalitarian regime that's running literal concentration camps in order to make some extra money was a bad idea? How could anyone have predicted this?!
5
True strength is shown by being able to tolerate criticism, not stifle it.
China's heavy handed responses indicate fear and insecurity. Not greatness.
20
Hong Kong is an international hub. It serves Americans’ interests to stand with Hong Kong. According to the 2019 World Investment Report released by UNCTAD, Hong Kong received USD 115 billion in FDI in 2018. The main investors in Hong Kong include British Virgin Islands, Singapore, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, besides China. Foreign investments are spread over real estate, finance, insurance, banking, retails, import and export trades, construction, information and communication. Hong Kong’s fall will impact the world. That’s why, Hong Kong’s fight isn’t just about Hong Kongers, it’s a fight for the core value of the free world.
China uses Hong Kong’s free market to its advantage to infiltrate business and fund its authoritarian regime. Every government in the world needs to exert diplomatic pressure on the Hong Kong and Chinese government to allow Hong Kongers to have human rights and a fair election system, in order for Hong Kong to remain as a free port.
Companies around the world need to unite and condemn China using the carrot and sticks of economic might to suppress political expression—before China succeed in overtaking the free world.
24
@Ingra If this is true, why are the Americans funding violent rioters to commit arson, assault, attempted murder etc. ? Why are these rioters waving the American flag when they commit these atrocities ? The Americans figure it will hurt China more if Hong Kong goes down in flames.
1
@Ingra You do know that under British rule, Hong Kong had ZERO democracy, right?
3
@Ingra
Do you know that the British unleashed joint military and police operation to violently quash the 1967 student protest in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong local government now only utilize the local police and conduct itself using emergency law inherited from British colonial rule. Still a very one country two system where the HK local government are using what the learned from their British colonial master.
The HK police handling of protest are similar to the London police when they quash the Tottenham protest in 2011 that lead to 5 dead (including one shot dead by London police).
1
AFAIK the central focus of the ruling single party in China is staying in power - and they will do anything to hang onto that.
It's not a democracy - it's a totalitarian authoritarian dictatorship - and should be seen as such, and dealt with as such.
7
This thin skinned anger is also tactic used to extract concessions from foreign companies, show off China's growing power to a domestic audience and whip them into a nationalist frenzy so they don't notice any other social ills. It's emotional manipulation and we should not fall for it. If we call them out on it they will back down.
13
@Friday The US uses any excuse to punish Chinese companies. Why can't the Chinese do the same ? The US government has killed more muslim civilians than any other country. They have committed extra-judicial killings, incarcerated people without trial, water-boarded and tortured Guatanemo inmates etc. And they are now sanctioning Chinese officials for "Muslim re-education" camps ? Of course, any type of abuse should be called out, but this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. As for sanctioning Chinese officials involved in these camps, are they going to invite the worst one to head the CIA and replace Gina Haspel ?
Has anyone in the US called out the US administration's hypocrisy ?
Everybody sells us out.
3
The more you kowtow Communist China, the more she will become arrogant and thuggish!
It seems Viladimir Lenin's words is being validated by China because of submissive, spineless profit-maximizing greedy capitalists of the free world!
" The Capitalists Will Sell Us the Rope with Which We Will Hang Them!"
Thermo Fisher Scientific sold its DNA sequencing techniques to China and fascist Chinese officials literally "hanged" millions of innocent Uyghurs, Kazaks.
Even morally corrupt Academia (MIT, and Dr. Kidd, a 77-year-old Yale professor and many many) assisted in China's crime committed against these innocent people.
The best and immediate action should be taken by the free world is to force China shut down those criminal camps and secure the freedom of those suffering people and persecute those racist, fascist Chinese officials who persecuted innocent ethnic groups!
7
Well I guess it's ok for the Chinese government to repress its people, put Muslims in concentration camps, harvest organs from political prisoners, outlaw free speech and steal everything that's not nailed down from Western companies.
But they had better not pass a bathroom bill, because the NBA will come down on them like a ton of bricks!!
11
Go woke, go broke!
2
China is acting like a bully and no one likes a bully.
6
NBA get out of our enemy's territory
4
The mask is coming off the “peaceful rise” of China. We now see a venal, coercive genocidal regime that is hell bent of subverting the global village to its will.
Using kleptocratic exploitation it is leveraging its financial strength to coerce, cajole and intimidate all opposing opinions. The world - China & CCP wants is the one where their power, will and thinking subsumes any independence of thought.
11
Here’s why China wins in the end. Slightest slur by a sports executive—wrath of hell, business cut. US professional athletes who hate the United States and do nothing but insult it? Endorsement deals and celebrity. Game over.
2
At least the NBA stood up to defend the right to free speech, our own government has steadfastly refused it's former role as the leading country of the Free world.
6
China is the utopia that corporate America hopes to install in the US. An authoritarian regime with dictation from the top and laws which prohibit all dissent. No regulations and consumers who are controlled and cowed. It is not enough that US corporations already have about 70% of the population brainwashed to be vacuous receptors of all dictates, they need to remake the laws so that legally no one has freedom. It is often said that US corporations want to tap the huge Chinese market, but they also want the total control of the people as well.
4
Daryl Morey will forever be remembered by the world as a hero who stood up for battles for human rights. James Harden will be remembered as someone who bowed to an authoritarian regime. We will forever adore South Park and New York Times for their bravery to speak up against oppression—as we will forever pity those who are silenced by China’s economic might.
14
My believe is that today's social media is amplifying a few (in China's case, a few could be easily a few thousands) vocal activists' opinions and we perceive it as the popular sentiment. How do we know whether the majority of the Chinese NBA fans just want to watch their beloved NBA team playing on TV and don't care about Morey's "now deleted" tweets?
5
Because they went as far as saying they support 911
1
The unrest in HK is basically a civil war within China and it is very complex. Sports should be border-less but ppl are not. While Americans believe they are defending the freedom of speech, Chinese fans tried to say "Say what you want but we are free to show our anger".
Anyone is allowed to say what he wants but should be responsible for the consequences. Mr. Sterling lost L.A Clipper. Bill Maher got the show cancelled for his bad joke. Fair?
5
@E Wang You said it right. It is a civil war, where one side fights to be free from slavery and to have freedom to express themselves, while the other side tries to suppress and take it away.
5
The NBA is not staying neutral. They are kowtowing.
9
NBA has their freedom to say whatever they want, but the Chinese also have their freedom to choose what to buy and whom to cooperate with. This is fair enough. Do Americans want to do business with anyone who openly support Taliban? Or anyone who is openly against any mainstream value in the US and let them earn your money?
3
@baxile Are you seriously comparing HK protesters to the Taliban?
3
Taliban is fighting for a just cause to free their country from the yoke of foreign invader. The Taliban's violent action is comparable (just a matter of degree) to the HK protestors' action to violently attack people disagree with them and damage properties with fire bombs.
@CJC I think he is, which is concerning to say the least.
2
Companies need to start realizing that there is a fundamental battle around free expression occurring. They need to pick a side. The founding fathers were rightly worried about the power of the government to restrict freedom of expression and assembly, but could never have imagined the system we are in today.
Today a foreign country can inflict its inhumane speech policy on what was supposed to be an exemplar of free speech. Congress (hahaha, I know, I know) needs to act. We need policy that automatically implements retaliatory triggers on people and countries whose actions are antithetical to ours.
9
Sports is a great diplomatic tool. We’ve been using it forever to advance human achievement, our western culture, and yes, even human rights.
Why stop now?
9
China is run by an authoritarian oligarchy that will not tolerate dissent by anyone. The authorities have channeled the righteous anger of the Chinese people over the centuries of humiliation at the hands of Europeans and Japanese as the justification of their censures.
So the rules are actually simple.
If a company wants access to the Chinese market, then that company should play by Chinese rules. Those rules mean, that the company doing business in China puts their profit oppty above US principles of freedom of speech or any other individual freedom.
Not so great from an ethics or moral standpoint, but look at the creature we elected president.
The NBA and players like Harden are just basketball versions of Donald Trump; the $ comes first.
10
the same rules apply in USA where companies faced boycott and so on if companies voice unpopular view or take opposing stand from their customers. universities in USA recind invitations to speakers after protest by unhappy students(i.e. the universities' consumer) disagreeing with speakers' previously published views.
I don’t understand any sympathy for the NBA growing their business, particularly in countries with extreme human rights’ violations.
21
Hong Kong’s earthshaking leaderless protest movement is entering its seven months since the extradition bill was introduced in February, 2019, with thousands taking to the street on March 31, marking the first massive protest. Though, if we look back further, the civil movement really started since the Occupy Central, in which Hong Kong’s main financial district was occupied from October 15, 2011 to September 11, 2012. Then followed by the 79-days Umbrella Movement that sprang to life because of a group of young student leaders.
So it has been 8 years since Hong Kongers started to resist Communist’s intrusion of their way of life, which is a blend of western and eastern culture, completely the opposite of what the Chinese Mainlanders are allowed to have under the Communist Government. To have their outcries ignored by the government for 8 years completely justifies Hong Kongers' boiling anger, why they are united in resisting—despite all the teargassing, beating, bullets and persecutions. Look at the Lennon walls all over the city with billions of grievances they shared. Look at the human chain the children and elders created to express their solidarity, even with the tall Lion Rock Mountain in their way. The civil movement in Hong Kong is driven by raw fear of oppression and disappointment of the SAR Government. However powerful China is, it can never win Hong Kongers’ love, but it certainly can silence them, as we can see what is happening in America.
13
I worked in China for over 10 years and saw the regular compromises and kowtow needed to not offend. It works for some companies as their objectives can be completely non political.
The issue arises when companies start to get into the public sphere. You have to be consistent to be credible. The NBA chose one path in the US and a different one in China. Now they have an issue as the two are contradictory. Too bad, should have thought about that before it blew up in their face.
12
All foreign companies operating in The Center of Everything (China in Chinese) know that worldwide they must adhere to The Center's Social Credit System. The NBA, just like Apple, McDonalds and GM, must say or do nothing that falls afoul of the SCS. Everyone who works for them must strictly adhere to the SCS. It is the sworn duty of all companies selling in the Center to immerse all their employees and customers in Xi Jinping Thought and ensure no deviation. The NBA has a lot of work to do.
4
We are being forced to choose.
I choose free speech and freedom from tyranny of a ruthless Chinese dictatorship bent on world domination.
27
China will never play fair by any rules. Time to just walk away from all trade go back to before we had trade with them until the way to make a fair trade deal to include our security, human right, movement of people, south china sea and agreement about them stealing our technology.
We should be any to ban any product world wide if it made or include any part of stolen technology, but the Chinese are skilled liars and it time to force them to follow the rules every other country follows.
11
These companies and the NBA should boycott China, not the other way around. I've spent the last 5 summers working in China and will not return this year in part because of this reason. I can't even describe the mental exhaustion one experiences in mainland China trying not to offend the Chinese with everyday obvious truths like "Hong Kong has it's own special dialect of English." I learned the hard way that was a Big No-No!!!
The young people are particularly dangerous. Some of my professor colleagues privately told me they are becoming more and more afraid of their students in this political climate, and they have good reason to be: many of them are old enough to remember the Cultural Revolution.
26
U.S. corporations are used to operating in a system of fascist-capitalism, in which large corporations own and run the state. China does business in a system of fascist-communism, in which the state owns and runs all businesses. The fascist-capitalist system uses symbolic "freedoms" to keep the citizens quiet. We're proud to be "downwardly-mobile" Americans because at least we know we're free. The fascist-communist system uses upward economic mobility to keep its people quiet and maintain absolute control. When pressed, both systems opt for force.
7
Now you know how conservatives are treated in our own country. Liberals attack anyone who opposes their views and try to "cancel" the person from whatever position they held.
Ellen Degeneres enjoys a football game next to President Bush and is attacked by the twitter mob. Her response demonstrated pure class.
If the Far Left gets their way, the United States will be just like China.
3
@Jon Galt As with much that conservatives say the opposite is actual true. Trump is looking for corruption and the left is authoritarian. Sounds a little bizarre.
These are not "American" companies. Apple, Google, Amazon, the NBA, etc. etc. might have their HQ's in the US; their CEO's maintain a number of luxurious properties here; they like to maintain the pretense they are American so they reap the benefits, but they do everything they can not to pay taxes, sell out to foreign governments at the drop of hat, and owe allegiance to no one except their stockholders. I hope when Warren becomes President, we stop giving these parasites preferential treatment. Let them get it from Ireland, the Netherlands, or the Cayman Islands.
19
So here we have the NBA kowtowing to China while some NBA players tell us how bad America is. Does anyone see anything hypocritical here?
6
@PJ The criticisms of the US by American players should not be equated with the HK protests. We are able to voice our dissent to our government about our displeasure with aspects of our society. Obviously, China would never tolerate this. This is a false equivalence.
1
For most of the past 2200 years China has been a civil secular socioeconomic political educational demographic diplomatic military scientific and technological superpower.
Deng Xiaoping ended communism in China when he adopted socialism with Chinese characteristics aka capitalism.
Deng Xiaoping ended cult of personality autocracy in China when he adopted democracy with Chinese characteristics aka a term limited collective leadership model based upon merit and connections.
China moved 300 million people into the middle class. And eliminated famine and homelessness for it's people.
Xi Jinping has kept the capitalism but gotten rid of the democracy. China is rising but has enormous problems.
An aging and shrinking nation with a below replacement level birthrate along with a massive male gender imbalance. China has 4x as many people as America on the same size land mass. On a per capita basis China's nominal #2 GDP puts it at # 80 near Bulgaria and the Dominican Republic.
10
If everyone refuses to play along, China will go back to being the backwater it was.
Tiffany and these other companies mentioned who backpedaled for authoritarian China in the name of money have no backbone and deserve to be boycotted by those of us who believe in democracy. I for one will never buy anything from Tiffany.
12
Trip wires? Your in another country, you vocally support political positions that directly oppose and undermine the government’s efforts to maintain unity on critical national security concerns. Get a life - don’t undermine the government of a country where you are a guest - especially when you come from a Western nation that consistently seeks to undermine the political and economic stability of the country in which you are a guest. Not to hard - but China gets no respect, despite managing a population 5 times that of the “exceptional” and in many respects failing USA.
1
Why should companies "stay neutral" on issues that are sensitive in China? They don't do that in the US any more.
I'd like to remind readers that a more accurate name for the Tiananmen "crackdown" is "massacre." And Taiwan is not a "self-governing island" but a country. The Times itself is not speaking plainly, turning to politic circumlocutions.
7
This article is a very sad commentary on how greed has replaced morality in the U.S. and around the world. The NBA and these other businesses, that kow-tow to China, should be ashamed of themselves.
7
Next time you go to an NBA game, bring a sign supporting Hong Kong democracy or self-rule for Taiwan and Tibet. Let the people there know you support their fight. It is time for some player/coach visibility now. What say you, Phil Jackson?
13
If one basketball player takes a knee in China to protest the triple T’s, then, I suspect he might be missing all of his lower extremities.
3
Shame on ATVI. I have played Blizzard games for decades but as of today, I have cancelled my subscriptions and uninstalled their games. Blizzard's games were a meaningful part of my childhood, and I will miss playing their titles. However, their reflexive kowtowing to China is despicable and I refuse to support it.
10
“The N.B.A. has been in cooperation with China for many years,” Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a regular news briefing on Tuesday. “It knows clearly in its heart what to say and what to do.”
Geng Shuang’s use of the word “heart” is not an accident; it’s a coded word. That word is part of the Communist Party’s aggressive propaganda machine that forces all Chinese to “Never forget the original heart.” Innocent as it may sound, it’s an order that all Chinese should never forget that the Party lifted millions of people out of poverty.
While that statement may be true, the world won’t forget that millions of innocent Chinese people also died from the disastrous policies, massacres and purges of the Chinese Communist Party since 1949. To say that the NBA knows in its heart what to say and do is what the Chinese Communist Party expects from every obedient, self-censoring Party member.
Give me a break. The NBA is not an organ of the Communist Party. It is an independent sports body and it should rightfully push back against Communist Party-sponsored cyber bullying.
12
I'm glad Silver took a better stance on this issue today. It's a sad day indeed when Americans kowtow to the oppressive communist regime in Beijing by apologizing for something we say.
.
Xi Jinping is fast making China friendless. We're lucky a guy like him came along to wake us up and see the evil coming from Beijing. The good people of China deserve a much better government.
10
For those “who question our motivation, this is about more than growing our business,” Mr. Silver, the league’s commissioner, said in a statement. He said basketball could be “an important form of people-to-people exchange that deepens ties” - - - - - - - - - yes, sounds right, after all Lebron and Westbrook and all of them are happy to glad hand all the Chinese folk they see, just as they do here in the good old US of A, right. Deeper ties come with thoughtful, real human interaction, not millionaire athletes who fly in, perform and fly home. The league keeps proving what a joke it is.
To paraphrase Sam Spade regarding China's slapping us around: "You'll take it, and you'll like it." Or, as Thucydides put it, "The strong do what they will, and the weak accept what they must." Deal with it, folks.
"Bite the Hand That Feeds You" Meaning
This idiom means that if someone is providing you with necessities, you shouldn't disrespect them, be ungrateful, or criticize their behavior lest he or she turns around and take away what you need.
cited from "idiom Dictionary" of writingexplained.org
In the West we have a system where governments and companies are separate entities. In China they're one of the same.
Western companies must learn to adapt to the local rule but they must also show have some backbone and the willingness to walk away. After all an argument for these ventures is to also introduce foreigners to our way of life, our values.
3
It's pretty simple, really. China is an authoritarian system that is getting economically and militarily stronger thanks in large part to our good-faith efforts to integrate into the global trading system. We are a democracy. We cherish free speech as well we should. Hopefully we separate from China economically to the extent possible with the goal of weakening them the way that they have weakened us with their actions over the past couple of decades.
4
Basketball is a business. If a player speaks about how to make a three pointer, then let's listen. Being a skilled player or manager is not qualification to speak on social/political issues. Whether I agree or not with the protests in HK, famous people need to get over themselves and only speak on what they know.
@Resident of A player doesn’t know enough speak out against a government that kills citizens extrajudicially, imprisons religious groups, forces women to abort their babies or stick them in orphanages, and censors anyone that disagrees with them? I don’t think one has to be an expert in foreign policy to see that the Chinese government is horrible.
3
@Resident of
I am not a politician, does that mean I can't speak about politics? People are STILL allowed to educate themselves and form an opinion to express.
4
Looks like we won't be hearing much more from you, then.
It's starting to feel like we are in a new cold war between authoritarian regimes and democratic nations and our government and business elites don't realize it.
We have stories today about Russian forces working to destabilize European governments and the Chinese government now demanding, in effect, censorship controls on private employees of American companies. Hopefully our leaders in business, culture, and government realize that we shouldn't be negotiating our values away in search of more profit before we end up having neither.
15
@BronxDuck Our leaders have no values.
South Park has a better take on this situation -
Like the N.B.A., we welcome the Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts,” the show’s creators said in a tongue-in-cheek response. “We too love money more than freedom and democracy.”
It’s. It complicated but since the NBA and other organizations love money more than freedom and democracy - they put up a smokescreen that it’s complicated.
13
Baseball got out in front on integration because of Branch Rickey's courage and moral compass. What will the NBA do?
1
@alex Kowtow and deny that being apolitical equals appeasement. Character and moral courage are very hard to come by these days, particularly in business, wink wink nudge nudge--Business Roundtable and IT firms in China. The Chinese must be confronted at every turn if they are ever to reflect on their shortfalls.
I am ashamed at our spineless American companies. But I am also ashamed at American citizens for not understanding that nativism and nationalism only cause us to lose power and influence on the world stage, which influences the power and resources we have back here at home. Who wants to have to capitulate to an authoritarian regime like China's? If the United States wants to lead, it should lead. But that's not how we're acting.
25
Sadly, no matter how hard they try to position themselves as "woke" or "sensitive" the NBA ownership and union is all about money. To the players and owners it once was better business to stay out of North Carolina because of its politics (bathroom bill, etc) but now its better business to be in China - millions of internees, police state policies and censorship notwithstanding.
The next time a league and its union furrows a collective brow and mumble about fairness, freedom, diversity and "who we are", remember Silver's and the players reflexive, pre-backlash, response: To wit: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
6
NBA's problem is that it wants have the cake and eats too. It made so much money for so long in China that it takes for granted that the gravy train will continue.
And NBA is hooked on this money which they need to pay the humongous salaries to the players, who for I can tell, just a bunch of guys running around and trying to put a big ball into a stationary hoop.
Time has come to face the reality and start with less money and be frugal (and keep it's self respect and the principles of freedom of speech, liberty and democracy)
7
If you want to make money of the PRC, better spend the time to understand and respect the population and the Government. Don't make general assumptions...you wouldn't do that in the US. Any US company has the option to forgo trying to sell to PRC consumers...it's simply an economic discussion. In any case, given the state of the trade talks, China won't selling to the US and the same vice versa...a new Cold War. Another great episode in human history.
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On a personal level, Americans and others who cherish free speech can boycott Western companies that kowtow to Chinese craziness and also boycott Chinese companies and products as well. I know it is virtually impossible for consumers to avoid or even know everything that comes from China, but doing what you can will at least send a message to the Chinese that they aren't the only ones whose opinions count. Enough is enough.
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And yet, they delete a tweet and force an apology from the CEO...Is that not regulating speech to pander to China?
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I urge everyone to boycott the companies that they see acting against free speech and supporting the CCP's repression of human rights. For me, that means quitting all Blizzard related videogames, but for others, that might mean avoiding the purchase of an NBA streaming service. We can show companies that bowing down to China is not acceptable to us
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The west needs to ban together and stop doing business with all countries that do not uphold at least a basic level of human rights. We are not perfect, but we do have elections, freedom of speech, a free press, due process and freedom from unlawful search and seizure. From colonial “rebel” fighters, to civil war soldiers, to civil rights activists, Americans have been fighting to preserve and extend basic rights for 250 years. Clearly we are not perfect, but over the long-term we have trended in the right direction. Some things are more important than profits. If a country does not recognize basic human rights, it should be allowed absolutely no business or economic ties to the west. The same should apply to any country doing business with such a nation. China is eating our cake and having it too- making money and stealing IP without reforming its oppressive communist government.
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The NBA being woke has to do with keeping its American market, a large percentage of which is black and/or urban. Not being woke in this case has to do with keeping its markets too. Either way, it's naive to think it has any love for movements of resistance.
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But China is fighting President Trump on the tariffs so all is forgiven. Right?
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You can say the same about the U.S.. We are in a trade war after all and any excuse is going to be used to make life difficult for one another.
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Well it’s time for the NBA to stand up for the rights of everyone and democracy. The players need to stand up for democracy and support the league that has made them all millionaires. We know what needs to be done. All the big mouths LeBron and others need to stand up if they don’t they are just as bad as the Russian loving GOP
Slavery made the banks very rich in America however we needed to fight a war to end it. Democracy needs to be fought for. China doesn’t want Americans to talk about their re-education camps abusing the people in Hong Kong ,then the owner of the Nets needs to sell his team an we need to leave China and come back home
Democracy doesn’t gravel to a dollar bill we stand up and fight for everyone
The NBA is not the tech firms who sell freedom for a nickel
China can get into some other sport but the Democratic NBA is not for sale.
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I think it's sad that all these companies have no backbone and always give into China. It's all about money. No respect for freedom or human rights. Commerce is all that matters. Including the NBA. Sad.
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How sad, corporate America willing to be censored by China's dictatorship, all to satisfy their business and it's profits. Even America's Social media is suspect of self-censorship. I guess we humans are always corruptible when given the chance (when un-regulated and/or unsupervised). But it takes basic ethics and the will to stand by our principles (if any) to counter the Chinese onslaught, odious suppression of information deemed injurious to a despotic regime...where freedom of expression, and certainly criticism (so welcomed in a democracy), is viewed as the 'enemy of Chinese security' and capricious dictates to silence any dissent, however constructive.
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Chinese bluster has been met by American
bluster. And we won. Give Trump some credit. The NBA should use a similar approach - cancel all the teams. What are the Chinese going to do? show the Brazilian National team.
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@marrtyy and what exactly have we won?
Unfettered Capitalism doesn't lead to democratic rights and values. It does lead to virtue signaling, and cowardice by apologizing when no crime was committed--except pointing out the human rights abuses of another nation.
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Don’t forget Nike pulled a shoe supportive of freedom in Hong Kong for fear of upsetting China and then promptly pulled a shoe celebrating an American Flag (betsy ross) for fear of upsetting Colin Kaepernick...while it is disgusting that companies are bowing to China we should also recognize and be concerned about the erosion of free speech in our own society... we don’t have the guts to stand up for what is right in our own country how can we expect to stand up to China?
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As long as western corporations are willing to trade dollars for principle, the Chinese will have our number. But, let's face it, they already know what we're about: Gotta get that paper.
The Chinese watch us very carefully. They see the mess America is in right now and they know that all they need to do is wait. Our weakness is, and always be, greed with a healthy dollop of racism and violence.
Sometimes it feels like we're a fish on the line, just waiting to be reeled in. Tariffs won't help.
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This article makes it sound like China is somewhat different. Just remember Donald Sterling lost his own NBA team for something he said in a phone call. Where is Freedom of Private Speech?
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Since the early 1990s, American business has made deals with the Chinese to move jobs and IP to a low-labor-cost haven that, oh yeah, happened also to be a cruel, totalitarian dictatorship.
Remember the story of the Scorpion and the Frog?
The scorpion comes to the edge of the pond & says to the frog: "I cannot swim. Won't you please carry me across?"
The frog replies: "But you are a scorpion. If I put you on my back, you'll sting me and I'll die from the poison."
"That's ridiculous," says the scorpion. "If I did that while we were crossing this pond, we would both drown. I would never do that."
So, reassured by the scorpion's promise, the frog put the scorpion on his back and began swimming across the pond. When they were halfway to the far shore, the scorpion stung the frog, releasing his poison.
As the frog slipped under the water, he called out: "But you said you wouldn't do it!"
"Sorry," said the scorpion, as he too succumbed to the water's depth, "I can't fight my nature."
No one should be surprised by today's China. Or what will come from them tomorrow.
Everyone has known for the past 25 years that all of Beijing's strategic moves were meant to build their economic dominance at the expense of the economies then dominant over them.
Paul X. Kennedy predicted the economic rise of China in the 21st century in his 1985 book "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers."
The lesson isn't difficult to learn:
If you make a deal with a scorpion, you will pay the price.
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Stop allowing your morality to be purchased.
Doing the right thing and being right is more important than anything else.
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It won’t be long before Beijing requires all foreign companies to provide full lists of all their employees around the world so they can check the web for any “wrong thinking” statements about China.
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China is hacking us in a far more damaging way than any computer intrusion when they muzzle us and expect us to subordinate our values as a cost of doing business. They’re corrupting the heart drives of freedom.
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“It is inevitable that people around the world — including from America and China — will have different viewpoints over different issues. It is not the role of the N.B.A. to adjudicate those issues,” Mr. Silver said in the statement.
It's entertaining to see so many self righteous folks here, always demonizing China and the Chinese people. Unfortunately, some NYT readers just fail to understand the beauty of different viewpoints, as Mr. Silver stated above.
You have the right to say whatever you want. I have the right to respond and probably shut you out. Fair enough?
The answer is simple here for American sports. AVOID CHINA AT ALL COSTS!
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Increased trade with China was supposed to liberalize China, not subject American ears to a de facto foreign censor.
Increasingly, it appears we need think about legislation affirmatively protecting the rights of individuals to speak their mind and to access and listen to alternative viewpoints free of coercion or retaliation from any source public or private -- by employers, Twitter mobs, social media censors, communication network carriers, PC thought police and, yes, even China.
Free speech as a sword, not merely a shield.
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I have played Hearthstone, the Blizzard Entertainment game that the Hong Kong player was playing when he protested, for about 4 years now. I have reached the highest rank in the game several times, and I have spent approximately $150 buying cards and other game-related material from Blizzard.
I deleted the game from my phone and my computer today. I will not be playing again. Although it is difficult to walk away from a pastime that I have enjoyed for a few hours each week for the last ~4 years, I just can't justify playing after this incident.
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I've long avoided World of Warcraft and any Blizzard game since, due to its "Warden" spyware. I've missed out on journeys with and/or against Jaina and Sylvanas, but at least my computer is still mine.
No surprise they've all-but-allied with one of the greatest friends of spyware and enemies of internet freedom. xi, like our loser, destroys any good in those who join him.
This should demonstrate once and for all the falsity that wealth leads to more democracy. The West helped build China into what it is now, partly based on that belief as western (American in particular) corporations and Chinese behemoths made fortunes.
And given the current US and European political troubles, western democracy can never be taken for granted, and the wealthy continue to erode what we still have.
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"For international companies looking to do business in China, the rules HAVE ALWAYS BEEN simple." MONEY, MONEY, and MONEY. Human rights? Freedom of speech? Democracy? Don't even mention it.
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@NguyenSJC Can money buy your conscience?
As the NBA, Blizzard and others have shown, all that matters is making money: Capitalism is proving itself to be as evil as Soviet Russia said it was.
We need to move to a system where compassion is part of the equation, such as some of the social democracies of Europe. This way we will have a better balance between the rights of people and the money-backed corporations that rely/prey on them.
Our own government, or at least the current administration and its supporters, has shown that they don't care about human rights or compassion. If they did, they would be working much harder on humane solutions to the border "crisis", pollution, health care, etc.
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@Phobos Where have these "social democracies" of Europe been? All I have seen from them is cozying up to Putin in exchange for Russian gas, supporting Huawei until left with absolutely no choice, and empowering Iran/Turkey... This is an issue of willpower, not economic system.
1
The scandal here is that, for decades, the world has known how China operates. In the 1990s, it used to be that China didn’t respect intellectual property or copyright. They stole technology in daylight, but were allowed to get away with it. Now, as a strong economy, it wants to dictate the terms of commerce. It can’t be allowed to. There has to be retaliation for it. While Trump’s tariff war is viewed as hurting agriculture and consumers, it’s a good opportunity to look for alternate markets to mitigate risk. This is what happens when countries become dependent on single channels of commerce.
Protesting about China’s abuse of human right is proper, not only in Hong Kong, but Tibet and specially now the Uygurs’ aggressive re-education campaign.
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Given how much millions of Chinese sports fans love basketball and follow NBA teams and players, this is a perfect opportunity for the NBA to bring more freedom and more democracy to people in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. If the NBA held its ground and China tried to keep NBA basketball off of Chines tv, the millions of fans would protest and have an impact that the residents of Hong Kong cannot match. Why oh why are these NBA owners and the organization itself behaving in such a cowardly way—especially when courage will ultimately improve their bottom line?
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@ehillesum
I'm having a hard time accepting your premise. Mainland Chinese residents, whose freedoms are restricted aren't protesting (as far as we know), but without NBA basketball they're now gonna stick their necks out? The NBA isn't in the business of expanding human rights they're in the business of promoting their bottom line. They (NBA) is trying to save face in the US, without killing a potential cash cow.
im afraid you get it wrong
i am currently working in Foshan, a city of China
and most of the young people i know either is indifferent to this, believing NBA deserves to be punished, or so patriotic they are willing to sacrifice watching NBA for the "soverignty of their country". Not one i have met yet have protest it.
one, a beautiful student of minw, feel escalated because she thinks her country begin to retailiate the "bullying of western countries".
the fruition of patriotic education and social media control in China has bloomed. It will spiral out of control as the US led international order disintegrate or Hong Kong problem further escalate
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@ehillesum There is no need to bring Democracy to Taiwan. They are a democratic country, as much as we are.
1
We used to talk about spreading democracy around the globe, but we certainly don’t seem to have the courage to do that anymore. It’s all economics. I’d love to see the NBA go all in and make a commercial duplicating the Tiananmen Tank Man but as a basketball player dribbling and doing crossovers in front of the tank. That would be an amazing political expression and show a company choosing freedom over potential revenue. It will never happen.
Our expansionist policy for well over a century always had the Chinese market as its goal, even when that didn’t yet mean much. It’s largely why we annexed Hawaii and the other Pacific Islands. American businesses are going to continue to bow down before China as long as Americans don’t hold them to task for it. China will boycott is but we just won’t return the favor. Google and Facebook have been particularly egregious examples of caving before the censors.
China has so effectively taken control of our global production system and has such a large domestic market that almost no companies will choose to operate on principle. They will all think about where their bread is buttered. This is who we really are now.
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@Ryan M
It’s a good reminder for the “woke” warriors.
Stick to attacking safe targets. Like Trump and conservative Americans.
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@Ryan M An ad like that would likely be censored by the CCP. China does not have free speech. Most major services are also state run and definitely state monitored. That is why their regulation is so effective.
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@JQGALT The name on your account makes this apparently attempted unironic take even more laughable.
1
What’s confusing about this?
The brutal dictatorship of China wants to become the sole superpower of the world.
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