Chinese Media on NBA Scandal: ‘The Hong Kong Riots Are Just Like 9/11’

“Chinese observers said these extreme comments are inappropriate and disrespectful, which the majority of Chinese people don’t agree with, but it should remind Western media that for Chinese people, the Hong Kong riots are just like the 9/11, which is horrible and can’t be justified,” the state-run newspaper claimed. “So when a few of them see a foreigner use ‘freedom of expression’ to justify the statement that seriously harmed their feelings, they decided to make disrespectful comments as well in the name of “freedom of expression.’”

The jihadist group al-Qaeda killed 2,977 people in New York, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania after hijacking four airplanes and flying them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The fourth plane, the one falling in Pennsylvania, never arrived at its target because passengers subdued the jihadists. Hundreds of New York police officers and first responders have died of 9/11-related illnesses in the years since.

There have been no reported deaths in the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, launched in June. Hong Kong police, controlled by Beijing, have shot two protesters ages 18 and 14. Hong Kong police and armed pro-China mobs have injured dozens of protesters, prominently including a young woman blinded by a close-range bean bag round police shot into her face.

Despite its dismissive tone about the September 11 attacks, the Chinese Communist Party has used jihad as an excuse to force millions of Muslims into concentration camps where survivors say they have been subjected to torture, slavery, indoctrination, rape, forced sterilization, organ harvesting, and other abuses.

“Chinese netizens vowed to draw a clear line with the NBA after league Commissioner Adam Silver defended Morey, who showed solidarity with Hong Kong rioters in his tweet,” the Global Times claimed, without clarifying that “netizens” who disagree with Beijing face swift incarceration.

The newspaper concluded by comparing Morey to former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, expelled from the NBA for racist comments against black Americans.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry tacitly supported the online vitriol hurled at Morey and other Americans for supporting the protests in a statement Tuesday.

“The Chinese Basketball Association and the Chinese cooperation partners to the Houston Rockets made statements on this matter. I believe China’s position on it couldn’t be clearer,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. “I also suggest you pay attention to the reaction of the ordinary Chinese people.”

The Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, which has remained largely peaceful and leaderless since arising in June, is making four demands of its government: freedom for political prisoners, direct election of lawmakers, an end to the government calling the protests “riots,” and an independent investigation into police brutality.

Story cited here.

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