Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


NBA Game Played in China Amid Backlash Over Hong Kong Tweet

VOA News

   Chinese basketball fans filled an arena Thursday in Shanghai for a
   National Basketball Association exhibition game despite the ongoing
   public backlash over a tweet from the Houston Rockets general manager
   in support of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

   Video posted on social media by aLos Angeles Timesreporter show Chinese
   fans, many wearing NBA jerseys, cheering and taking pictures as the Los
   Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets made their way onto the court.

     The scene as the Lakers take the court 15 minutes before this game.
     [1]pic.twitter.com/zj4LUIGtdf
     -- Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) [2]October 10, 2019

   But after the game, there was no press availability involving players
   or coaches. The game was also not broadcast on television in China.

   The controversy started when Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl
   Morey tweeted an image that read "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong
   Kong." Morey has since deleted the tweet but the response from Chinese
   companies and the public was swift, with many suspending ties with the
   Rockets, one of the most popular teams in China because of its former
   star center, Yao Ming. The NBA issued regret over the tweet but many
   U.S. politicians urged the league to respect freedom of expression by
   its employees.

   China said its state television would not show many NBA games being
   played in the country this week. Chinese tech giant Tencent followed
   suit. Tencent platforms streamed NBA games to 490 million fans in
   China, according to a press release by the NBA in July 2019.

   According to the Associated Press, Houston Rockets merchandise has been
   blacklisted from Taobao, a popular Chinese e-commerce website.

   NBA grapples with speech restrictions

   The Rockets this week have been in Japan, where on Thursday they played
   against the Toronto Raptors. Afterward, a CNN reporter tried to ask
   star Rockets players James Harden and Russell Westbrook about the
   controversy, but she was interrupted and told by a Rockets team
   official she could only ask "basketball" questions.

     CNN anchor Christina Macfarlane was quickly shut down by the Houston
     Rockets' media officer as she tried to ask a question about the
     NBA's ongoing standoff with China [3]https://t.co/X153kmN2tb
     [4]pic.twitter.com/hQuKSzKDLl
     -- CNN (@CNN) [5]October 10, 2019

   In the United States, a group of people at a Washington Wizards
   basketball game against the Chinese Basketball Association's Guangzhou
   Loong Lions on Wednesday night held up signs saying, "Google Uyghurs"
   and wore shirts that said, "Free Hong Kong." Security guards removed
   the demonstrators from their seats. The arena in Washington has a
   policy against holding up political signs.

   China has faced international criticism over its treatment of the
   Uighurs. More than 1 million Uighurs, members of a Turkic-speaking
   Muslim minority in China, are currently held in Xinjiang internment
   camps, referred to as "concentration camps" by human rights
   organizations and former detainees. Chinese officials describe these
   camps as "vocational education centers" for job training.

References

   1. https://t.co/zj4LUIGtdf
   2. https://twitter.com/taniaganguli/status/1182254045391675392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://t.co/X153kmN2tb
   4. https://t.co/hQuKSzKDLl
   5. https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1182352621832753154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

.