China’s targeting of the NBA shows why it may fail at building soft power – and the Chinese dream
- By narrowing the boundaries of commentary, China is gradually alienating outsiders who might see opportunities there
- In attacking the NBA, which does not need China and would be difficult to replace, Beijing may have finally gone too far
There is ritual humiliation in China’s weaponising of free speech. First comes the outcry by netizens, one whose intensity might be ratcheted up or damped down by authorities. Then comes a craven apology by the company, desperate as it is to protect its fast-growing China business.
In important cases, the chief executive or chairman flies to Beijing, where authorities dress him down for his wrongdoings.
The slightest transgression becomes a challenge to national sovereignty.
No other state would think of doing what China has done. This is behaviour unworthy of a proud, confident country with 2,000 years of statecraft.
It smells of brittleness, insecurity and a government’s doubts about its own legitimacy. A confident country would not even notice a political tweet by a foreign sports executive.
Would the French react with such vehemence if Morey had tweeted in support of the gilets jaunes ? I don’t think anyone would have noticed – or if they did, cared. Who, after all, takes a basketball executive’s view on another country’s politics seriously?
Companies that are doing business in Hong Kong or China might have few choices as the red lines narrow. Cathay Pacific needs the China market more than China needs the airline. It operates some of its most important routes, thanks to the grace of the Chinese regulators.
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The NBA doesn’t need China. It is one of the few organisations that could turn its back on the country. There is no easy substitute – I don’t see Major League Baseball taking basketball’s place among Chinese fans. This may prompt China to grow its own basketball league.
However this turns out, the sorry spectacle is yet another illustration of an increasingly polarised world.
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The problem with authoritarian governments is that the more control they exercise, the more control they want. There is always an untidy person, an inconvenient tweet. Even Stalin and Mao could not completely control their hundreds of millions of people.
There is nothing in this embrace of a new authoritarianism that reflects Chinese characteristics. Taiwan and Hong Kong have all developed a remarkable degree of social and political openness that parallels their economic development.
It’s tempting to think that China’s rise is unstoppable and that resistance to its attempts to set the rules for what can be spoken is futile. The opposite may be true. China has badly overreached in the NBA case. It’s alerted sports fans and the African-American community to China’s tactics.
If the NBA is any indication, China’s attempts to build soft power and sell the world on the Chinese dream will fail. To increasing numbers of Americans, at least, a world in which speech is a weapon looks like a nightmare.
Mark L. Clifford is executive director of the Asia Business Council