Pence accuses NBA of ‘acting like subsidiary of Beijing’
MIKE PENCE accused the National Basketball Association (NBA) of “acting like a wholly owned subsidiary” of China’s oppressive regime yesterday, saying American companies should “stand up for American values”.
In a speech in Washington, the US vice-president said: “Some of the NBA’S biggest players and owners, who routinely exercise their freedom to criticise this country, lose their voices when it comes to the freedom and rights of other peoples.”
He added, “In siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of the authoritarian regime” and said it was “unamerican” for the country’s corporations to “embrace censorship”.
Mr Pence was referring to a controversy surrounding the association after Daryl Morley, the general manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team, posted a tweet in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
China responded by cancelling TV coverage of pre-season NBA games being held there and several Chinese companies suspended ties with the
Rockets. The NBA sought to distance itself from Mr Morley, calling his tweet “regrettable”, but faced criticism in the US for allegedly attempting to appease the Chinese government.
Mr Pence also hit out at Nike, accusing the sportswear giant of hypocrisy in promoting itself as a “social-justice champion”, citing reports that the company had removed Houston Rockets merchandise from its Chinese shops.
“When it comes to Hong Kong, it [Nike] prefers checking its social conscience at the door,” Mr Pence said. “A progressive corporate culture that wilfully ignores the abuse of human rights is not progressive – it’s repressive.”
In a wide-ranging critique of Beijing, Mr Pence also berated Beijing for the detention of Muslim Uighurs in the Xinjiang region and the thefts of US intellectual property.