Column: Why Daryl Morey's infamous tweet struck such a raw nerve in China (via latimesopinion)
It was the tweet heard ’round the world, especially across the Pacific: “Fight for Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” The Houston Rockets’ general manager, Daryl Morey, posted it in support of protests against China’s crackdown on Hong Kong’s freedoms.
He sees the NBA flare-up in context, as the yield on a social and cultural crop that official China began sowing nearly 30 years ago, after the Tiananmen Square protests — a “patriotic education” imbuing the Chinese with a history that emphasizes how foreigners have victimized and humiliated the Chinese, and the clear message, “no more.”A tweet by a general manager of a pro basketball team sets China afire with reaction. And maybe that’s not quite so well understood here.
Jiang Zemin, who was premier, said in his 2001 speech to the party congress that the Communist Party’s greatest contribution was, quote, ending national humiliation. So there’s all of that. And for an American in particular to be seen as encouraging Hong Kong to defy what many Chinese see as legitimate Chinese authority is for many of them like a stick in the eye.
And even if they think that, “Oh yes, he does speak for himself” — well, then they’re really angry at him, and he is an important executive with an NBA team. And this genuinely angers them. There was a major rewrite of the history textbooks in ’91, ’92, that they would place far greater emphasis on China’s victimization and humiliation by foreigners. Then in 1995, the government designated and pumped a bunch of money into the central government funding of 100 of what were called patriotic education bases, places that people could go to as tourist sites, etc., to be reminded of their national heritage.
And it’s also because it’s fundamentally an entertainment business. Entertainment businesses live and die by public approval. If you sell rubber gaskets that go into something else as partsOn the other hand, an NBA game is very obviously an NBA game. The branding is the whole business. If you live by branding, you die by branding, or at least you risk dying by branding.
If you generally have a positive attitude towards Americans, then even if you’re ticked off by one thing an American said, you’re more likely to let it slide than if you’re not generally happy with Americans than vice versa. There are other people who have a much more limited sense, and sort of they still perceive a world in which China is being pushed around and they want to see that end.
It’s not an easy situation for them to be in. But that’s kind of the world we live in, right? China looms large. But there are all sorts of groups, both foreign and domestic, where if you want to do business with them, you bite your lip about this, that or the other thing. You can’t, I think, say to a Chinese, “Hey, how does it really hurt you for somebody to say things you don’t like about China?” and expect them to just nod and say, “Oh that’s true, it doesn’t hurt me at all.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Column: Medicaid work requirements cost millions, achieve nothing -- and may be illegalThe latest bad news for Medicaid work requirement: They are a failure in policy terms (unless the policy goal is to throw people off Medicaid).
Read more »
How ‘Succession’ Turned Rich-People Problems Into TV’s Most Satisfying Drama (Column)It was only as the credits rolled on the Season 2 finale of “Succession” that I realized I was standing. At some point during the exhilarating final scene, I’d apparently leapt to my feet, radiatin…
Read more »
Column: Yahoo offers data breach victims up to $380 each in settlement. But don't bank on itYahoo is trying to make amends for its data-security issues, which affected 3 billion account holders. But, needless to say, there’s a catch. Columnist Davidlaz explains:
Read more »
Column: For LeBron James, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere … except in ChinaIn criticizing Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, LeBron James revealed that even the sports world’s leading social equality warrior has his limits.
Read more »
How One Tweet Turned Pro-China Trolls Against the NBANBA general manager Daryl Morey was besieged by nearly 170,000 tweets after his pro-Hong Kong post. It appears he was the target of a coordinated troll campaign.
Read more »
Hong Kong protesters burn LeBron James jersey after his response to Daryl Morey's controversial tweetLeBron James was met with harsh criticism for his response to the ongoing controversy between the NBA, China, and the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.
Read more »