Some basketball fans took issue with Joe Tsai's characterization of the Hong Kong protesters as “separatists,” a label also used by China’s state-controlled media
By Stu Woo Oct. 8, 2019 2:32 pm ET Last month, the National Basketball Association approved the sale of the Brooklyn Nets to the Taiwan-born, American-educated businessman Joe Tsai. Now, just a few weeks later, he is in Shanghai scrambling to ensure the Nets’ first high-profile game in his tenure gets played.
Few know the Chinese market better than Mr. Tsai, who co-founded online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. , China’s most valuable company. Yet even he couldn’t say on Tuesday how the matter will be resolved—or whether the preseason games would be played as scheduled.More on Rockets GM Daryl Morey Mr. Tsai said he is trying to play the role of peacemaker in the dispute.
One of his first efforts was to post an open letter on Facebook explaining why Mr. Morey’s posts offended so many Chinese people. He intended it to be a brief history lesson about how foreign powers such as Britain and Japan have abused China over the past centuries. Some basketball fans responded to his post, saying he supported an authoritarian government. Some took issue with his characterization of the Hong Kong protesters as “separatists,” a label also used by China’s state-controlled media, which have depicted the activists as violent radicals. The movement’s leaders have said they aren’t separatists.
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