TURES: Trump and the NBA should support Hong Kong, not China
Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, October 16, 2019
John Tures
Political science professor at LaGrange College
On Oct. 1, at 6:54 a.m., who wrote “Congratulations to President Xi and the Chinese people on the 70th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China!”
Was it the President of the National Basketball Association, a member of “The Squad”, or President Donald Trump?
There will be some Trump supporters who will swear he never tweeted that. Or you could go to Trump’s Twitter account to verify it.
Maybe it might surprise people, because Trump “talks tough” on China on trade, even as patent rights are granted to family members.
Or perhaps because he was quick to criticize Golden State Warriors basketball coach Steve Kerr, when the former NBA player verbally fumbled a question about Hong Kong demonstrators.
When asked about Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet backing those supporting freedom in Hong Kong, Kerr responded “Actually I don’t…It’s a really bizarre international story.
A lot of us don’t know what to make of it. It’s something I’m reading about like everybody is, but I’m not gonna comment further.”
Kerr should have supported Morey, and pushed the NBA to take a stand for liberty, even if it could cost professional basketball a lot of money.
But at least he didn’t praise the Chinese Communist Revolution, or their bloodthirsty regime, who gunned down a pro-democracy teen protester at point blank range. He remains in critical condition, and won’t be the last.
Here’s a Biblical message to Trump: Before plucking that little speck out of Kerr’s eye, maybe you should take that big old plank out of your own.
It’s sad when the writers and producers of the animated comedy “South Park” show more courage than these political leaders and business owners.
Their show mocking Hollywood’s kowtowing to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) got their show permanently banned in the country, though the students there undoubtedly are smart enough to watch it on their own.
Meanwhile, President Trump praises China’s Xi Jinping when he abolishes term limits (once one of the few limits on power in the PRC), and says we should do that here.
He’s referred to him as “My friend Xi.” But China’s regime is not our friend, or friend of the Chinese people.
My political science students are aghast to learn in my class about the slaughters of “Chairman Mao’s” Cultural Revolution, the economically disastrous “Great Leap Forward,” and learn how that country’s body count is right there with Stalin’s Purges and Hitler’s Holocaust.
The Victims of Communism Memorial is selling $15 T-shirts saying “Free Hong Kong” and passed them out at an NBA game.
You could purchase one, or at least support the Republicans and Democrats who have condemned China, and supported the Hong Kong protesters.