The National Basketball Association's (NBA) surprising defiance, when Beijing demanded an apology over a Twitter post supporting the protests in Hong Kong, is unlikely to become a new norm among US companies when doing business with China, experts told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2019) The National Basketball Association's (NBA) surprising defiance, when Beijing demanded an apology over a Twitter post supporting the protests in Hong Kong, is unlikely to become a new norm among US companies when doing business with China, experts told Sputnik.A Twitter post from Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, has triggered a firestorm of criticism from Chinese state media and angry Chinese basketball fans, who said that the picture Morey posted in support of the protests in Hong Kong violated China's sovereignty and demanded an apology from the Rockets executive and the NBA.
Despite Morey deleting the Twitter post shortly afterwards and issued two subsequent posts expressing regrets for offending Chinese fans, Chinese state media continued to demand a formal apology from Morey and the NBA.
After initially echoing Morey's apologetic position with a statement expressing regrets over the controversial Twitter post, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was forced to issue a statement clarifying the league's firm support of freedom of expression, after facing major backlash from the media and politicians at home alleging the NBA of "kowtowing to China."
"However, 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," Silver said in the statement.
The NBA's firm stance in face of Chinese pressure appears to have moved away from typical responses from US companies under similar situations, where companies like Apple, video game maker Blizzard and luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany who have all adhered to China's demands by removing Hong Kong-related content this week.
However, political analysts pointed out that it would be difficult for other US companies to follow the NBA's path of holding its ground when facing similar pressure from China in the future.
"People [in the United States] support the NBA does not mean other [US] companies would enjoy the same level of support. That's why you have to look at it on a case by case basis. It [the case with the NBA] is decidedly more public than, where as, Apple taking an app off its App Store. That's not nearly as public," Christopher Balding, an associate professor at Fulbright University Vietnam who used to teach at the HSBC Business School in Shenzhen, told Sputnik.
The expert explained that the NBA's popularity in the United States has helped raise awareness of China's behaviors in such situations among the general public.
"What has happened to the Houston Rockets and the NBA is nothing new to anyone that has been in China or following China. I think two things have changed. First of all, China has been increasing in people's consciousness and has been gaining more political notoriety. The other important issue is that, to be honest, people don't care about what apps Apple censors on their App Store or other [China-related] issues. It's funny, but it's true. South Park and basketball are what make people [in the United States] understand what's going on in China," he said.
A recent episode of US animated show South Park, titled "Band in China," touched on the issue of US companies, especially Hollywood Studios, having to bend to Chinese censorship demands when doing business with China. The episode led to the complete removal of all South Park content from the internet in China by the government censors.
In support of league's stance on freedom of expression, a number of US basketball fans began to attend NBA preseason games wearing T-shirts supporting the protests in Hong Kong. One of the fans in Los Angeles started a crowd-funding project to hand out free T-shirts in support of the protests in Hong Kong to Lakers fans outside the Staples Center before the first game of the NBA regular season on Oct 22.
NBA's initial statement saying it recognized that "the views expressed by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable," drew major backlash from the media and politicians at home.
"As a lifelong @HoustonRockets fan, I was proud to see @dmorey call out the Chinese Communist Party's repressive treatment of protestors in Hong Kong. Now, in pursuit of big $$, the @nba is shamefully retreating," US Sen. Ted Cruz said in a post on Twitter.
Commenting on Rockets star James Harden's initial apology to Chinese fans during media interviews after Morey's controversial Twitter post, US Sen. Marco Rubio chastised NBA stars like Harden as being "hypocrites."
"NBA players have no problem speaking out on politics & social issues in America. But they apologize to #China for a pro democracy tweet from an @NBA team executive. Hypocrites," Rubio wrote in a post on Twitter.
Harden clarified in a subsequent interview that he supported Commissioner Silver's position on defending freedom of speech.
Professor Balding suggested that the NBA was being expected to hold higher moral grounds because of its brand image as a professional sports league promoting progressive values.
"I do think that's one of the things that puts them in a difficult position, because they [the NBA] had been known as a relatively progressive type of organization. So when they did this [appearing apologetic initially], it struck a lot of people as astoundingly hypocritical. Because the NBA has sold itself as a progressive type of league, people would say: 'Wait a minute, that's not what you're selling at home. You can't ignore those things in China,'" he said.
The NBA moved its 2017 All-Star Game away from Charlotte because of its objection against a local legislation in North Carolina on anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people. A number of NBA stars including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose wore T-shirts with the words "I Can't Breathe" during pregame warm-ups to raise awareness against police brutality in the United States.
NBA coaches like Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors and Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs have been vocal critics of US president Donald Trump. When asked by reporters to comment on the NBA's dispute with China, Kerr said he could only speak on issues he was passionate about and was still trying to learn more about the situation related to China and Hong Kong. Popovich expressed his support for Silver's defense of freedom of speech without offering his opinions on the Hong Kong protests.
Responses from Kerr and Popovich led to criticism from Trump accusing them of being hypocritical.
"They talked badly about the United States. But when they talk about China, they don't want to say anything bad. I thought it was pretty sad, actually," Trump said.
NBA Commissioner Silver's firm stance in defending the freedom of expression of the players and executives, including Morey, was met with angry responses from Chinese state media, nationalistic basketball fans and NBA's partners in the country.
The sports channel of the state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) said on Tuesday that it would suspend broadcasting all NBA games, including the two preseason games that were expected to be played in China this week. The CCTV also published an editorial demanding Morey to issue a formal apology over the Twitter post.
Tencent Sports, which signed a five-year partnership extension deal with the NBA in July, said it would halt broadcasting NBA preseason games, including the two games expected to be held in China, on Tuesday.
A number of NBA's Chinese partners also announced on Tuesday their decisions to suspend the partnership. Sportswear maker ANTA Sports, Chinese smartphone maker Vivo, online streaming service Migu Video, fast-food chain Dicos, Luckincoffee and Master Kang Ice Tea have all halted cooperation with the NBA, according to statements on their official Weibo accounts.
Nevertheless, political analysts argued that the NBA has its strength to hold its ground against China compared to other US companies.
"I think it really depends on whether the US company has many competitors or not. Most companies can't really compare to the NBA, because it's the best basketball league in the world that faces no competition from elsewhere. There're more fans in China who watch the NBA than those in the United States. If all those Chinese fans had to evade the Chinese internet firewall to watch NBA games, I don't think that's a scenario Beijing would like to see. That's very different from US companies like Apple or those hotels and airlines that were forced to bend to Chinese pressure," Yen Chenshen, a researcher at the Institute of International relations, National Chengchi University in Taiwan, told Sputnik.
The NBA preseason game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets was held in Shanghai on Thursday as scheduled, although a number of Chinese sponsors reportedly removed their logos from the game. Chinese internet users on Weibo criticized some of the basketball fans who attended the game and asked NBA stars to sign autographs on the Chinese flags they took to the game.
ESPN reported that a few dozens of Chinese fans who greeted the NBA teams at their hotel covered their faces to avoid being caught by cameras from the reporters on the scene. Several sports columnists on ESPN expressed their concerns for the safety of those Chinese fans who continued to show support for the NBA teams, despite the government's hostile stance against the league at the moment.
The annual tradition of the NBA holding preseason games in China started in 2004, when NBA began its major marketing expansion into the Chinese market riding on the success of Yao Ming, who played for the Houston Rockets at the time.
Yao spent his eight-year career in the NBA playing solely for the Houston Rockets, which became one of the most popular NBA teams in China. The NBA's popularity in China has also grown significantly since Yao began to play for the Rockets. NBA stars such as LeBron James, James Harden and Stephen Curry have become fan favorites in China and would travel to the country during the off-season in the summer for various commercial tours.
Over the past few months, Hong Kong descended into chaos as waves of massive rallies against proposed amendments to the city's extradition law hit the global financial hub. The demonstrations often turned violent, with protesters begin engaging in heavy clashes with the police. Beijing has repeatably stated that the situation in Hong Kong was a result of foreign, mainly the US, interference in China's domestic affairs and expresses full support for the actions of the local authorities. Increasing numbers of US politicians have expressed concern over the protests in the city. In particular, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called upon the city's leadership to do more to fulfill the "legitimate aspirations" of the people of Hong Kong and called for an investigation into alleged police violence at the rallies.
In early September, the controversial extradition bill was formally withdrawn, but the protesters continued rallying in demand of universal suffrage, an end to legal procedures against fellow demonstrators and an investigation into alleged police violence.
Law enforcers maintain that they use force proportionately and only in response to violent acts or unlawful behavior by protesters. Contrary to the demonstrators' claims, Chinese authorities reaffirm their commitment to the "one country, two systems" principle.
