The Chinese government blasted Vice President Mike Pence’s speech on the escalating scandal between the NBA and Hong Kong protesters earlier this week; calling his address “arrogant and hypocritical.”
“Beijing slammed US Vice President Mike Pence for his ‘arrogance and hypocrisy’ on Friday after he voiced support for Hong Kong democracy protesters and accused the NBA of kowtowing to China,” reports Yahoo Sports. “Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing that the United States should ‘cease expressing irresponsible opinions.’”
Pence commented on the NBA’s seemingly pro-China position during an address Wednesday; saying the league’s star athletes should speak out on behalf of pro-Democracy protesters.
“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 siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of the authoritarian regime,” he added.
Read the full report here.
BACKLASH: USA Today Calls LeBron James’ China Defense ‘Most Disgraceful Moment of His Career’
The backlash against NBA superstar LeBron James reached a fever-pitch Tuesday afternoon, with a major American newspaper calling his pro-China comments the “most disgraceful moment of his career.”
“On behalf of the 327 million American citizens who generally believe that freedom is good and authoritarian regimes are less good, let me apologize to LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers,” writes Dan Wolken.
“It must have been a real inconvenience to take that 13-hour chartered flight to China last week and hang around a luxury hotel in Shanghai for five days while promotional appearances got canceled. Surely it was awful to be in the middle of an international firestorm where the stakes were so high: Would preseason NBA games be played or not?” adds the author.
Hong Kong protesters slam LeBron James for comments about China, free speech https://t.co/LsukqStgei pic.twitter.com/TcKkc3p2Nw
— New York Post (@nypost) October 15, 2019
LeBron James on if Daryl Morey should be reprimanded for his tweet pic.twitter.com/6hCE8vCyNn
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 15, 2019
“LeBron, we’ve come to expect more of you. You’re obviously an intelligent person, a compassionate person and a socially conscious person. At this point in your life and career, it’s part of your brand. But to present that face to an American audience while essentially admitting that all you care about when it comes to the rest of the world is cashing those big checks — well, let’s just say it doesn’t look very good on you,” writes Wolken.
My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019
Read the full report at USA Today.
Bowing to Beijing? LeBron James Defends China, Says Pro-Democracy Tweets ‘Misinformed’
Basketball superstar LeBron James found himself in hot-water this week after defending the Chinese government in the league’s latest Hong Kong Scandal; calling pro-Democracy tweets “misinformed.”
“Basketball superstar LeBron James was accused of turning a blind eye to Chinese repression on Tuesday after he criticized a Houston Rockets executive for angering China with a ‘misinformed’ tweet supporting protesters in Hong Kong,” reports Yahoo Sports.
“James told reporters that Rockets general manager Daryl Morey ‘wasn’t educated’ on Hong Kong and should have kept his mouth shut, as the outspoken Lakers forward waded into a charged debate that other high-profile NBA figures have shied away from,” adds Yahoo.
“So many people could have been harmed not only financially but physically, emotionally and spiritually. So just be careful with what we tweet, and we say, and we do,” James told reporters.
.@KingJames — you’re parroting communist propaganda. China is running torture camps and you know it. #GoogleUyghurs https://t.co/BExRpi02EB
— Senator Ben Sasse (@SenSasse) October 15, 2019
“You’re parroting communist propaganda. China is running torture camps and you know it,” posted Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse.
Read the full report here.
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