NBA China rebounds preseason match October 11th 8:15
A pre-season match was held on the 10th night in Shanghai, while China's protests were rivaled by NBA and executives from the US professional basketball team supporting the protests in Hong Kong. However, the impact is spreading because it is held in an unusual situation such as the removal of advertisements related to the game.
In China, the general manager of NBA Rockets posted a message in support of Hong Kong's protests on his Twitter, and the Chinese government and corporations strongly rebelled that the NBA commissioner defended this post. It is.
Under such circumstances, NBA Nets and Lakers pre-season match was held on the 10th night in Shanghai, China. Many fans visited the venue, wearing team uniforms and holding the Chinese flag for more than two hours before the game started.
However, some people said, “I want to sue not only watching the game but Hong Kong is part of the Chinese territory.”
In Shanghai, many of the advertisements related to the game have been removed by the 10th, and the fan event scheduled to be held on the 9th was suddenly canceled.
In spite of the NBA game that is also popular in China, such as the state-run Chinese Central Television stopped broadcasting this pre-season match, it was held in an unusual situation, and the influence is spreading.
NBA goods sales suspension and partnership termination
NBA, American professional basketball, and Houston Rockets general managers posted to SNS to support Hong Kong's protests, withdrew sales of related goods in China, and Chinese companies have partnered with NBA There are a series of movements to announce censorship.
Of these, on the site operated by “Alibaba”, a Chinese online shopping giant, even if you type “NBA Rockets” in the product search, “Product not found” is displayed and you can no longer purchase. Other major mail order sites are in the same situation, and it seems that handling has stopped due to posting about Hong Kong.
In addition, China's sports equipment maker “ANTA” announced that it will end the ongoing negotiations with NBA. “ANTA” provides shoes to NBA players and manufactures and sells many related products.
Chinese media have reported that 14 Chinese companies that have formal partnerships with the NBA have announced the termination or suspension of the partnership.
The Chinese version of Twitter, “Weibo,” also posted a video of shooting the NBA flag on the road removed in Shanghai where NBA pre-season matches were held.
According to a Chinese research company, the size of the sports-related market in China is expected to reach RMB3 trillion next year and over 45 trillion yen in Japanese yen. Basketball is the most popular sport, especially for the younger generation, and is a strong market for the NBA.
One after another criticism of advertising of American companies
In China, there are a number of cases in which companies have been criticized for advertisements from American companies in connection with protests in Hong Kong, and companies are forced to respond.
Among them, Tiffany, a luxury jewelry manufacturer, released an advertisement on Twitter on the 7th of this month for Chinese models posing with their right eyes covered. However, on the Chinese Internet, criticism that Hong Kong protests reminiscent of a woman demonstrating clashing with the police was injured by the right eye spread, Tiffany explained that `` There was no political intention '' , Deleted the ad.
Leading IT company Apple has been criticized by Chinese media for providing a map app that can help police protesters in Hong Kong identify the police movements. It has been deleted.
On the other hand, the author of the popular South American anime “South Park”, known for its painful social satire, released the anime that touched on censorship in China, and this month, when it was no longer available on the Chinese Internet, On Sunday, we released a sarcastic statement entitled “official apology” on Twitter.
The statement said, “Welcome China's censorship that keeps our eyes on our hearts. We love money more than freedom and democracy. Great Chinese Communist Party! "Is implicitly criticizing China's pressure and American companies responding to it.
Secretary of State Pompeio “I want you to be humane”
US Secretary of State Pompeio said yesterday in an interview with the US public broadcast PBS TV, “American companies are starting to notice the risks of dealing with China. If you are prohibited from free expression of political opinions that the United States respects, you will be at risk of losing credibility, ”criticizing China ’s response.
After that, he said, “China wants to keep its promise to the world to maintain Hong Kong's one-and-two system and respond humanely,” so that the Chinese government respects Hong Kong's autonomy and aims for a peaceful solution. I asked again.