(UTV|COLOMBO) – US Vice-President Mike Pence has criticised the US National Basketball Association (NBA) in a speech attacking Chinese diplomatic and trade policies.
Mr Pence accused both the NBA and the sports equipment firm Nike of “kowtowing” to Beijing and “muzzling” criticism of China.
It comes in the wake of a diplomatic row over an NBA team manager’s support for anti-Beijing protests in Hong Kong.
He also said Chinese policy was growing “more aggressive and destabilising”.
In the speech in Washington DC, the vice-president said: “In siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the authoritarian regime.”
The China-NBA row began early this month with a tweet – since deleted – by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressing support for the Hong Kong protesters. (Foreign Media Reports)
[alert color=”faebcc” icon=”fa-commenting”]Keeping up to date with breaking news while you are on the move is now simple with UTV Alerts [textmarker color=”8a6d3b”]Type REG UTV and send to 77000[/textmarker] on your Dialog, Airtel, or Hutch mobile connection[/alert]
