China: The (Not-So) Silent Suffering
In this day and age of overwhelming social justice and sweeping social reform, human rights are practically looked at as a prehistoric idea. The idea of a massive and powerful country not having basic human rights is unthinkable, as the US and it’s watchdog allies have become police of the world, protecting rights wherever they are vulnerable. Well, almost wherever. There are few places where a blind eye is turned to events transpiring. The largest and most powerful of these places is China, ironically called the “Peoples’ Republic of China”.
The Communist regime that has ruled China since the 1950s has long been a stain on the pride and nobility of America; as it is not a good look for the most powerful country in the world having most of its products made by child labor armies locked in prisons with suicide nets to catch the “employees”. For years, the US and its allies have tolerated this mass suffering of the Chinese people in the name of further economic prowess and power. However, with the digital age in full swing, some horrors of the most populous country on earth have come to light. One of the most “controversial” events has been the Hong Kong “Riots” and the greater Hong Kong freedom movement as a whole.
Hong Kong, originally a British Colony until 1997, was transferred by native China under the “one country, two systems” policy. This policy basically let Hong Kong have autonomy and keep its democratic government, judicial system, and capitalist economy, but be a part of the country of China. However, in February of 2019, the Hong Kong Security Bureau proposed an amendment which would allow the extradition of Hong Kong criminals to mainland China for prosecution, in clear violation of the two systems policy. Thousands flooded the streets in protests as Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s Leader, added amendments giving more power to mainland china. Violence soon broke out as police tried to quell the protests. Lam withdrew the bill in October, but tensions were too high to be placated.
Violence escalates as police shoot a 14 year old boy and the government bans the commonly worn face masks using colonial-era emergency powers. Shortly after, pro-rights activist Jimmy Sham was beaten by a group of men wielding hammers and knives. Authorities disqualified the popular pro-democratic candidate Joshua Wong from the upcoming district election, causing widespread city conflicts to spill well into 2020 with police arresting 15 activists in April, including the Democratic Party founder and millionaire supporter Jimmy Lai. The same month, Police arrested volunteer medics who were caring for protesters wounded in the conflicts. Some of these prisoners reported being tortured by authorities; including being forced to inhale tear gas, being beaten, and having lasers held into their eyes. One female detainee reported that she was gang raped by officers in the holding station. She was shortly afterwards arrested by police on “suspicion of providing false information”. In May, China’s “parliament” overwhelmingly voted for mainland china to impose national security legislation to “tackle secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference”, essentially turning Hong Kong into a police state run by Beijing.
During those long stretches of time, the world’s governments were oddly quiet about the whole event, until the NBA team, the Houston Rockets GM, Daryl Morey, tweeted a picture saying, “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong”. Morey was quickly forced to delete the tweet with the team owner and the NBA commissioner coming out to say that neither have any “political positions'' ,but saying the tweet “offended many of our friends and fans in China…” and it was “…regrettable.” This came to head when NBA Star, Lebron James, weighed in saying that Morey was “either misinformed or not really educated on the situation” with the NBA and China, insisting that the Rockets general manager hadn’t considered the repercussions of his words going on to say. "So many people could have been harmed, not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually." The NBA went so hard against the Hong Kong protests that they blocked a CNN reporter from asking Houston Rockets star James Harden about the conflict. Then again, the NBA and co. have a $4 Billion market in China so it’s clear to see why they were quick to bend the knee for the Chinese Communist Party.
It was saddening and rather hypocritical coming from the NBA and Lebron James, who have been champions against the “shut-up and dribble” narrative and have been agents of social progression. The NBA in the 2020 season had every game court painted with the expression “Black Lives Matter” ,and allowed players to play with “Say Their Names,” “I Can’t Breathe,” or “How Many More” on the back of their jerseys, showing that the NBA can and would take positions in social movements.
Protesters in Hong Kong were pictured burning Lebron James jerseys after the comments made by the athlete who has a net worth of over $500 million, causing many to believe America is full of fearless social justice warriors... until it comes to sacrificing some of that sweet green gold.
