CNN's Tapper rips Hollywood, NBA, Nike over lust for Chinese money: 'There is no amount of money that can buy enough soap to wash that blood off their hands'



CNN host Jake Tapper unloaded on Hollywood, the NBA, and more for what he said was turning a blind eye to human rights atrocities in China and instead taking the communist country's money hand over fist at each and every possible opportunity.

What are the details?

During Sunday's conclusion of CNN's "State of the Union," Tapper lauded the Women's Tennis Association for standing up for morality and speaking out against brutalities against its people — "something that few other athletic organizations or corporations in general have been willing to do: criticize the Chinese government and take serious steps to protest its brutality."

Tapper added that American businesses should follow the lead of the Women's Tennis Association — which canceled all events it was supposed to hold in China after tennis player Peng Shuai accused former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault.

He then hit out at the NBA and International Olympic Committee — which are in the process of holding events and planning to hold the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in February.

“Not only is the [International Olympic Committee] not raising its voice in solidarity in protest, the IOC is helping the Chinese government by providing cover,” Tapper added.

The IOC has previously insisted that it spoke to Shuai regarding the allegations, but Tapper said that more needs to be done.

"Yes, the Olympics are supposed to be free and without politics," he said. "But this is not about politics — the allegations against the Chinese government go far beyond its treatment of Shuai."

Tapper also pointed the finger at Hollywood and Disney in particular over its recent decision to film live-action "Mulan" in Xinjiang, where more than 1 million Uyghur Muslims have been placed in internment camps.

“The millionaires and billionaires of Hollywood and the NBA and the IOC and Wall Street are all so eager for Chinese cash, they’re pretending none of this is happening,” Tapper insisted. "Of course, Apple and Nike publicly claim to decry slave labor. But to be clear, the behavior we are seeing from U.S. corporations is not about a company surviving: It's about discontent with just hundreds of millions of dollars, desiring instead billions of dollars."

He concluded, “There is no amount of money that can buy enough soap to wash that blood off their hands.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper Slams US Corporations for Silence on China’s Human Rights Abuses - #BoycottHiltonwww.youtube.com

China yanks Boston Celtics games from TV after Enes Kanter slams Xi Jinping as 'brutal dictator'



Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter delivered pro-Tibet remarks on Wednesday and also blasted Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "brutal dictator." On Thursday, China wiped future games from the schedule as well as yanked past replays.

Kanter – the veteran NBA player and outspoken progressive activist – shared a two-minute video on social media of him voicing his support for Tibetan independence.

"My message to the Chinese government is 'Free Tibet.' Tibet belongs to Tibetans. I am here to add my voice and speak out about what is happening in Tibet," the Turkish basketball star said in the video. "Under the Chinese government's brutal rule, Tibetan people's basic rights and freedoms are nonexistent."

"They are not allowed to study and learn their language and culture freely," Kanter continued. "They are not allowed to travel freely, they are not allowed to access information freely, Tibetan people are not even allowed to worship freely."

"For more than 70 years, Tibetan monks, nuns, intellectuals, writers, poets, community leaders, actors, and many more have been detained, sent to political re-education classes, subject to torture ... and even been executed simply for exercising their freedoms that you and I take for granted," the Celtics center exclaimed.

He added that Chinese citizens can be arrested for having a photo of the Dalai Lama or for flying the Tibetan flag.

"I say, shame on the Chinese government," Kanter declared. "The Chinese dictatorship is erasing Tibetan identity and culture."

"After learning all of this, I cannot stay silent. I stand with my Tibetan brothers and sisters, and I support their cause for freedom," the NBA player proclaimed.

"The communist ideology of China has been around for only around 100 years, but Buddhist civilization, ideology, and philosophy have been around for thousands of years," Kanter stated. "Only the Tibetan people should decide the future of Tibet; ... Tibet belongs to Tibetan people."

"Brutal dictator of China, Xi Jinping, I have a message for you and your henchmen. I will say it again, again, and again, loud and clear; I hope you hear me. Free Tibet, free Tibet, free Tibet," Kanter concluded.

Kanter has also been an outspoken critic of Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan and this week received his 10th arrest warrant for speaking out against the Turkish government's human rights record. Turkey also revoked Kanter's passport. Turkish prosecutors have been seeking the arrest and extradition of Kanter since 2019 for an alleged connection to a terrorist group.

Dear Brutal Dictator XI JINPING and the Chinese GovernmentTibet belongs to the Tibetan people!#FreeTibet https://t.co/To4qWMXK56

— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) 1634749143.0

Kanter doubles down

Kanter continued his "Free Tibet" campaign during the Celtics' game against the New York Knicks on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Kanter wore custom sneakers with the words "FREE TIBET," an illustration of a self-immolating Tibetan, and a snow lion from the Tibetan flag. The shoes were designed by Chinese dissident artist Badiucao.

More than 150 Tibetan people have burned themselves alive!! — hoping that such an act would raise more awareness ab… https://t.co/Kls7uhUwqp

— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) 1634771673.0

What a shame @EnesKanter was not given any time in the game tonight.But his message is clear and loud ！… https://t.co/jbOK1fKkLf

— 巴丢草 Badiucao💉💉 (@badiucao) 1634785363.0

China reacts by pulling Celtics games

According to the New York Times, "By Thursday, recent Celtics games were marked as unavailable for replay through Tencent, the Chinese internet giant that has partnered with the N.B.A. to stream its games in the country. The website for Tencent Sports also indicated that upcoming Celtics games would not be live-streamed."

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Kanter was "trying to get attention" and that his remarks "were not worth refuting."

"We will never accept those attacks to discredit Tibet's development and progress," the spokesperson said on Thursday.

A Celtics fan page with over 600,000 followers on the Chinese social media platform Weibo said it would immediately stop covering the team.

The Celtics fan page wrote, "Resolutely resist any behavior that damages national harmony and the dignity of the motherland!"

China has been censoring another NBA team

Tencent Sports has not been livestreaming Philadelphia 76ers games after the NBA franchise hired Daryl Morey to be its president of basketball operations.

Morey is famously known for writing a tweet in support of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong in October 2019, when he was the general manager of the Houston Rockets. Morey was forced to apologize for the "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong" message. Despite the apology, China stopped broadcasting NBA games for the pro-democracy tweet.

China refused to air any NBA games from state-run CCTV for more than a year after Morey's tweet, which cost the NBA $200 million, CNBC reported.

What has the NBA said about China's censorship?

Representatives for the National Basketball Association and the Boston Celtics did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the New York Times. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has yet to respond to China's latest censorship of the NBA.

Previously, Silver was asked on Monday about NBA games not being broadcast in China.

"It's unclear whether we'll be back on CCTV this year," Silver said. "Our projections are not dependent on it."

In April, Silver was asked about the NBA's relationship with China.

"Our most significant television partner is Tencent, which is a streaming service in China," the NBA commission told Time. "And we have hundreds of millions of fans in China who we continue to serve."

Silver claimed, "That a so-called boycott of China, taking into account legitimate criticisms of the Chinese system, won't further the agenda of those who seek to bring about global change."

In 2018, Tencent Holdings Ltd. paid $1.5 billion for five years of exclusive streaming rights to NBA games in China.

Why COVID's Origin Is the Biggest Story in the World | Josh Rogin | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 113

Why COVID's Origin Is the Biggest Story in the World | Josh Rogin | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 113

Rudy Gobert becomes first NBA player to speak out against concentration camps in China: 'Wrong is wrong'



Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert publicly denounced China for reportedly operating concentration camps on Thursday. Gobert, who is French, becomes the first NBA player to condemn China over alleged human rights violations against Uighur Muslims.

Gobert, who made headlines in March when he was the first NBA player to test positive for COVID-19, shared an Instagram story with the caption: "Wrong is wrong."

Gobert's message linked to an Instagram post by French actor Omar Sy's Instagram that has a light blue background to represent the blue flag of East Turkestan. The post featured the caption: "Millions of Uyghur Muslims are detained and tortured in concentration camps in China. Not for what they do, but for who they are. It is the largest mass incarceration of the 21st century. It has to end. #FreeUyghurs."

"Wrong is wrong"@NBA player @rudygobert27 participated in MEPs @rglucks1 @bueti @EnginEroglu_FW campaign to call… https://t.co/lTDSwhJtvX
— WorldUyghurCongress (@WorldUyghurCongress)1601576814.0

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) applauded Gobert's rebuke of China with a tweet that said: "This is big. Rudy Gobert of the @utahjazz calling out oppression of #Uighurs - first @NBA player to do so publicly."

This is big. Rudy Gobert of the @utahjazz calling out oppression of #Uighurs - first @NBA player to do so publicly https://t.co/VE4cG6X1O4
— Josh Hawley (@Josh Hawley)1601596519.0

Hawley previously called out the NBA for its cozy relationship with the communist country. Hawley wrote a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in July, where he lambasted the hypocrisy of the basketball league's policy of allowing players to select social activism messages on their jerseys such as "Black Lives Matter," "I Can't Breathe," and "Anti-Racist," but no messages about the Chinese internment camps.

Hawley also asked Silver why none of the 29 approved social justice messages are "in support of victims of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including the people of Hong Kong, whose remaining freedoms are being extinguished by the CCP's newly-enacted national security law."

The last NBA employee who criticized China was castigated severely. Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressed support for Hong Kong protesters in a tweet posted on Oct. 4, 2019. Morey showed support for the pro-democracy protesters with a tweet that read: "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong."

Rockets' management quickly condemned Morey's tweet. NBA players also attacked the Rockets GM, including LeBron James, who reportedly questioned Commissioner Silver as to why Morey wasn't being punished for his tweet.

Despite Morey apologizing, China immediately retaliated harshly. China's state-owned CCTV and Tencent, the NBA's streaming partner in China, stopped airing NBA games in China.

In July, ESPN released a bombshell report that young players and children were physically abused by coaches at NBA training academies in China, including in the Xinjiang province where internment camps are housing Uighur Muslims.

The Chinese government operates "re-education camps" in Xinjiang, a province located in northwest China. The Chinese Communist Party officially calls the camps "vocational education and training centers."

The labor camps allegedly force Uighur and other Muslim ethnic minorities to assimilate under the guise of countermeasures fighting extremism and terrorism. Detainees must attend indoctrination sessions and are forced to work in factories.

In 2018, the United Nations said there are a million ethnic Uighurs held in what appears to be a "massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy" in China. Randall Schriver, former U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, estimated that the number of detained Muslims could be "closer to 3 million citizens."

"The (Chinese) Communist Party is using the security forces for mass imprisonment of Chinese Muslims in concentration camps," Schriver told the Pentagon during a briefing in 2019.

Human Rights Watch published a report in September 2018 detailing the "Chinese government's mass arbitrary detention, torture, and mistreatment of Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang and details the systemic and increasingly pervasive controls on daily life."

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