With polarising perspectives on the NBA and Hong Kong protests, both China and the US should show more maturity

An international incident over a tweet may come down to different perspectives between the US and China. While the dark side of the Hong Kong protests has been overlooked in the US, the Chinese public is becoming dangerously nationalistic

Audrey Jiajia Li

Published: 3:00am, 26 Oct 2019

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It’s disheartening to see the “Morey incident” spiral downward in two parallel universes, both of which I am fond of. I’m talking about the incident involving Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who set off an international firestorm this month when he tweeted a since-deleted image captioned “Fight For Freedom, Stand With Hong Kong”.

Immediately, the Chinese Basketball Association, Chinese sponsors and a Chinese sports channel said they would cease cooperation with the Rockets.

The National Basketball Association of the US issued a conciliatory statement and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James weighed in, saying he didn’t think Morey was sufficiently informed about the situation. But even as the NBA tried to contain the fallout from the tweet in China, it succeeded in drawing harsh criticism from politicians and citizens back in the US.

To many Americans, this was an open-and-shut case: the NBA’s apologetic response was a shameful capitulation to a repressive regime. The basketball league was kowtowing to money, at best, and to authoritarianism at worst, and betraying the core values of America.

Meanwhile, Chinese social media was flooded with indignant calls to boycott the NBA. Netizens vented their frustration on what they saw as arrogant Westerners sympathising with “separatists” and their malicious agenda to weaken the power of a rising China.

Each side is convinced it is right, leaving little room for attempts to understand where the other is coming from, when the truth may be far more complicated and nuanced.

The protest movement in Hong Kong started off peacefully in June, out of a legitimate fear of the now-withdrawn extradition bill. Four months on, however, the city is suffering intense violence, destruction and divisive intolerance, with no end in sight.

Mixed in with the desire to protect Hongkongers’ freedoms is toxic nativism: ordinary mainlanders living in the city have encountered increasing hostility, sometimes just for speaking Mandarin. Yet this darker side of the movement has largely been under-reported in the rest of the world.

Just a few days before Morey’s tweet, scores of mainland-affiliated business establishments – as well as stores, restaurants and supermarkets perceived as sympathetic to the mainland – were smashed, burned and looted. The peaceful marches in June now seem a distant memory.

Back then, many ordinary mainlanders sympathised with the protesters, understood their concerns and supported their non-violent tactics. Unfortunately, as deep resentment against the central government spilled over to mainland Chinese in general, they grew disappointed with the protesters.

They started seeing parallels between the protests and infamous Chinese-bashing incidents, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act in the US in the 19th century, and the anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia in the 1990s.

Understandably, people in the US and China tend to see the current situation in Hong Kong through very different lenses.

While some in the US might justify the violence as an unavoidable response of the oppressed to the oppressors, others in China – even those who are no fans of the regime – have been discomforted by the violent scenes that bear an eerie resemblance to the sociopolitical turmoil of the Mao era, when the ideology of “the ends justify the means” prevailed and self-righteous youngsters tormented whoever did not share their beliefs.

This wide divergence of opinion also comes down to media treatment. On one side, Western news coverage has oversimplified the Hong Kong situation, and largely painted the movement as a battle between freedom fighters and evil authoritarians; on the other side, strict Chinese censorship has filtered out information about why Hongkongers took to the streets peacefully back in June and produced an incomplete picture.

Given that the Hong Kong situation is framed in stark binary terms in the West, it might be difficult for people there to understand why Morey’s expression of support for a pro-democracy movement could offend. However, hurtfulness is a matter of perspective, and I believe modern progressive Western culture is mature enough to grasp the nuance.

Take the 1992 Los Angeles riots for example. After a jury acquitted four white LAPD officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King, people took to the streets to protest against the verdict. While the protests were justifiable, they were nevertheless marred by violence and fatalities.

Consider victims such as Korean-American shop owners who were beaten and had their shops looted. To their ears, a remark expressing support for the rioters would sound hurtful, even if no harm was intended. And this is how many in China feel about Morey’s tweet.

A combination photograph shows a survivor (left), John Kim, visiting the scene of a shooting that killed his friend, student Eddie Lee (right, in the foreground) during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Photo: Reuters

On the other hand, calls for a Chinese boycott of the NBA are surely an overreaction. In fact, the nationalistic fever ran too high even for Beijing, which toned things down when it realised patriotic zeal was a double-edged sword, especially at a time when it is seeking a trade deal with Washington.

In recent years, many Chinese have become increasingly thin-skinned in a climate of rising nationalism. By emphasising the country’s “century of humiliation”, the authorities have been successful in fostering a victim mentality and whipping up patriotic fervour.

China’s citizenry have yet to develop the maturity commensurate with the nation’s growing status as the world’s second-largest economy and a geopolitical superpower. Instead of a boycott, a better approach would be to invite Morey and others who are unfamiliar with the intricacies of the situation to China for an honest conversation. Displaying a bit of self-deprecating humour would also help.

In this age of social media, tribalism is again polarising the world. People are becoming more eager to preach than to listen. The huge echo chamber that is the modern media environment reinforces the mental rigidity of tribes.

But Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, for one, has declined to be drawn into the storm over Morey’s tweet. Instead, he offered wise words: “The world is a complex place, and there’s more grey than black and white. I realise that what’s popular these days is making it black and white. You’re either good or you’re evil. It’s convenient to do things that way, but not realistic.”

Audrey Jiajia Li is a nonfiction writer and broadcast journalist

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