Mike Pompeo urges NBA to stand up to China, saying Orwell’s 1984 is ‘coming to life’ in Xinjiang
- Basketball association is facing criticism for backing down in row over Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet supporting Hong Kong protesters
- Comparing situation to Orwell’s dystopian novel, US secretary of state says he wishes NBA had acknowledged detainment of Uygurs in internment camps
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday urged the National Basketball Association to stand up to China, wading into a row as Beijing pressures the basketball league after a team official expressed support for pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.
The top US diplomat received applause for the comments in a speech to a Christian group in Nashville, Tennessee, as he denounced China’s treatment of its mostly Muslim Uygur population.
“The Chinese Communist Party is detaining and abusing more than 1 million Uygur Muslims in internment camps in Xinjiang,” Pompeo said.
“The pages of George Orwell’s 1984 are coming to life there. I wish the NBA would acknowledge that,” he said.
The NBA has dropped all media events on a tour of China, which has become a huge market for professional basketball.
The China market is estimated to be worth more than US$4 billion to the NBA.
The row began when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey posted an image on Twitter of the protesters’ rallying cry, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong” before quickly deleting it.
That prompted the Chinese government to end sponsorships for the team and league and drop planned NBA telecasts in China, with huge NBA logos and banners stripped off buildings.
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Lawmakers across the political spectrum criticised what they saw as an accommodating stance by the NBA, calling on the league to unite in opposing punishment against the Rockets.
China has been widely condemned for setting up complexes in remote Xinjiang that it describes as “vocational training centres” to stamp out extremism and give people new skills.
The United Nations says at least 1 million ethnic Uygurs and other Muslims have been detained.
Additional reporting by Reuters
