spartan max2 Posted October 10, 2019 #1 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) Quote The remarks highlight the escalating tensions between the NBA and China over a tweet sent out by Houston Rockets general manager Darly Morey in support of the anti-government protests in Hong Kong, which was deleted very quickly. Quote Despite Morey sending tweets to diffuse the situation, the comments sparked anger in China, leading to broadcasters pull pre-season games from their networks, e-commerce sites de-listing Rockets merchandise, and brands re-assessing their relationship with the NBA and the Houston franchise. The NBA initially put out a statement saying that it had "great respect for the history and culture of China." Then Silver addressed the incident more directly, in apparent support of Morey's right to free speech. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/09/nba-adam-silver-slammed-by-chinese-state-media-over-morey-support.html Quote It is inevitable that people around the world — including from America and China — will have different viewpoints over different issues. It is not the role of the NBA to adjudicate those differences," the NBA commissioner said. China Daily said the change from what it dubbed a "honey-mouthed statement" by Silver "shows his organization is willing to be another handy tool for US interference in the special administrative region." Edited October 10, 2019 by spartan max2 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aztek Posted October 10, 2019 #2 Share Posted October 10, 2019 is china really taking seriously what some nobody ,as far as international politics, said? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoofGardener Posted October 10, 2019 #3 Share Posted October 10, 2019 It's a test, @aztek. They're seeing just how far they can make Western organisations grovel. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godnodog Posted October 10, 2019 #4 Share Posted October 10, 2019 What about Blizzard? Will western democracies cave in to capitalism? Is this how false communistm defeats democracy? I keep saying unchecked capitalism will erode democracy over time. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan max2 Posted October 10, 2019 Author #5 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) 2 minutes ago, godnodog said: What about Blizzard? Will western democracies cave in to capitalism? Is this how false communistm defeats democracy? I keep saying unchecked capitalism will erode democracy over time. I wanted to make a thread about Blizzard too, but I wasn't sure if this was the right crowd lol. P.S for the record, I am never buying a Blizzard product again. Edited October 10, 2019 by spartan max2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan max2 Posted October 10, 2019 Author #6 Share Posted October 10, 2019 13 minutes ago, aztek said: is china really taking seriously what some nobody ,as far as international politics, said? Unfortunately this is a trend of Western companies self censor to Chinese standards to have access to their market. Apple got rid of an app Hong Kong protesters were utilizing to appease China. Hollywood has change countless movies. The jacket in the new top gun remake will not have a Tiawan flag on it like on the original. In the doctor strange movie they changed the monk from the traditional Tibetan one to a white women. Blizzard, the game company, banned a tournament winner and took all his reward money for stating he supports Hong Kong in a post-interview. I'm sure the list goes on. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatetopa Posted October 10, 2019 #7 Share Posted October 10, 2019 1 hour ago, spartan max2 said: Blizzard, the game company, banned a tournament winner and took all his reward money for stating he supports Hong Kong in a post-interview. Tencent is one Chinese company that owns 5% or so of Activision stock. There may be one or two others. I think Tencent also has Media rights for NBA games. Even 5% is a big single chunk of stock in anyone's hands. When that entity squawks the Board of Directors listens. In addition, Blizzard and the NBA generate a lot of money from Chinese fans and subscribers. Godnodog may be right, foreign armies and military take over may be unnecessary when you can buy what you want. Even sweeter when you buy it with your adversary's own money. Money is a force to be reckoned with. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan max2 Posted October 10, 2019 Author #8 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) 5 minutes ago, Tatetopa said: Tencent is one Chinese company that owns 5% or so of Activision stock. There may be one or two others. I think Tencent also has Media rights for NBA games. Even 5% is a big single chunk of stock in anyone's hands. When that entity squawks the Board of Directors listens. In addition, Blizzard and the NBA generate a lot of money from Chinese fans and subscribers. Godnodog may be right, foreign armies and military take over may be unnecessary when you can buy what you want. Even sweeter when you buy it with your adversary's own money. Money is a force to be reckoned with. Even without the stocks, that pot of gold, in the form of millions of potential Chinese consumers is very alluring to companies. It's a concerning trend that's for sure, when western companies start censoring on behalf of China. Also, Blizzard/Activision was required to have Tencent to become part of their company in order to sell in China. Edited October 10, 2019 by spartan max2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatetopa Posted October 10, 2019 #9 Share Posted October 10, 2019 19 minutes ago, spartan max2 said: Even without the stocks, that pot of gold, in the form of millions of potential Chinese consumers is very alluring to companies. It's a concerning trend that's for sure, when western companies start censoring on behalf of China. Also, Blizzard/Activision was required to have Tencent to become part of their company in order to sell in China. Yep, that is the way China got GE,GM,Ford, and Caterpillar too. They made their concessions to get a share of the loot. We are used to corporations self censoring in the US and sometimes needing to backpedal. They don't want to offend any segment of their customer base. The wake up moment is realizing that global corporations have to keep from offending a global customer base. I am not giving anything away Spartan by saying that there are probably a pretty good number of gamers on this forum, even if we did pick it up from our kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Grey Posted October 10, 2019 #10 Share Posted October 10, 2019 33 minutes ago, spartan max2 said: Even without the stocks, that pot of gold, in the form of millions of potential Chinese consumers is very alluring to companies. It's a concerning trend that's for sure, when western companies start censoring on behalf of China. Exactly this. How much influence does China have over the West? Not even politically but economically? Hollywood panders to them, auto makers...as the middle class of America is eroded down to nothing, everyone is eyeing the Chinese markets. The speed at which China was able to digitally blind Hong Kong protesters is unnerving, to say the least. I'm sure many of the protesters have already been identified through facial recognition software. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan max2 Posted October 10, 2019 Author #11 Share Posted October 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, Dark_Grey said: Exactly this. How much influence does China have over the West? Not even politically but economically? Hollywood panders to them, auto makers...as the middle class of America is eroded down to nothing, everyone is eyeing the Chinese markets. The speed at which China was able to digitally blind Hong Kong protesters is unnerving, to say the least. I'm sure many of the protesters have already been identified through facial recognition software. That's why the protesters are wearing mask and breaking the cameras. They are now banning the sale of mask though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Grey Posted October 10, 2019 #12 Share Posted October 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, spartan max2 said: That's why the protesters are wearing mask and breaking the cameras. They are now banning the sale of mask though. China is the dystopian future we all fear. Make no mistake about it, the greedy powers that be would love to have that kind of technological control over every citizen in every country. Google and Apple are using China as a test bench for curating people and their online profiles 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan max2 Posted October 10, 2019 Author #13 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Dark_Grey said: China is the dystopian future we all fear. Make no mistake about it, the greedy powers that be would love to have that kind of technological control over every citizen in every country. Google and Apple are using China as a test bench for curating people and their online profiles It's concerning and I think it's going to get worse. The troubling thing is we can't talk about a solution yet because not enough people know or see it as a problem. Topics on China never even gain much traction on UM. It's a country people want to turn a blind eye too. Hell, I didn't even notice it until this Blizzard fiasco. Reddit blew up over it at least. Young people probably care more because we see it happening more. Edited October 10, 2019 by spartan max2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Duck Posted October 10, 2019 #14 Share Posted October 10, 2019 14 minutes ago, spartan max2 said: It's concerning and I think it's going to get worse. The troubling thing is we can't talk about a solution yet because not enough people know or see it as a problem. Topics on China never even gain much traction on UM. It's a country people want to turn a blind eye too. Hell, I didn't even notice it until this Blizzard fiasco. Reddit blew up over it at least. Young people probably care more because we see it happening more. Protecting your brand is important to the bottom line. China is not the first special interest group to bring the PC hammer. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan max2 Posted October 10, 2019 Author #15 Share Posted October 10, 2019 35 minutes ago, Golden Duck said: Protecting your brand is important to the bottom line. China is not the first special interest group to bring the PC hammer. Does western media being censored to appease China bother you? This dude just voiced a pro HongKong sentiment in a post-interview and got banned, his award money took, and the casters got fired. Choosing profits over human rights. Blizzard obivously did it for profits, but I can't give them money anymore. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Duck Posted October 10, 2019 #16 Share Posted October 10, 2019 7 minutes ago, spartan max2 said: Does western media being censored to appease China bother you? This dude just voiced a pro HongKong sentiment in a post-interview and got banned, his award money took, and the casters got fired. Choosing profits over human rights. Blizzard obivously did it for profits, but I can't give them money anymore. It's the free market at work. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Grey Posted October 10, 2019 #17 Share Posted October 10, 2019 1 minute ago, Golden Duck said: It's the free market at work. Tell that to the people of Hong Kong 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Duck Posted October 10, 2019 #18 Share Posted October 10, 2019 15 minutes ago, Dark_Grey said: Tell that to the people of Hong Kong Hate the game not the player. Sponsors leave to preserve their brand. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidhead Posted October 10, 2019 #19 Share Posted October 10, 2019 21 minutes ago, Golden Duck said: It's the free market at work. China is state run capitalism. Right now many corporations like Nike, Disney and the NBA may be bending a knee to the market in China but it won't last the test of the global market. China, as always, needs the West more than the West needs China. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Duck Posted October 10, 2019 #20 Share Posted October 10, 2019 3 minutes ago, acidhead said: China is state run capitalism. Right now many corporations like Nike, Disney and the NBA may be bending a knee to the market in China but it won't last the test of the global market. China, as always, needs the West more than the West needs China. Cool story. How many people want to pay an extra $8k for an iPhone? The dollar is most important vote to win. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidhead Posted October 10, 2019 #21 Share Posted October 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, Golden Duck said: Cool story. How many people want to pay an extra $8k for an iPhone? The dollar is most important vote to win. Again, China needs the West more than the West needs China. There are many other nations who will gladly accept Apples offer to set up shop. Also, the only reason you purchase the latest model iPhone for 1K is because thats what the market dictates to those who want it in the West. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan max2 Posted October 10, 2019 Author #22 Share Posted October 10, 2019 44 minutes ago, Golden Duck said: It's the free market at work. Nihilism, as always, making the world a better place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aztek Posted October 10, 2019 #23 Share Posted October 10, 2019 it seems like 1k is too much for i phones, but then comparable models from other brands are same price, not to mention no one forces you to buy 11pro, they still sell 8 for 450. not to mention vast majority of people do not pay 1k outright, they pay about 30-40 a month, i actually did buy 11 pro for my wife, and i paid about $1100 for the phone, case and glass protector, and taxes of course, i paid full price, i always do, i never take payment plan on phones. i actually like their 3 camera system very much, i phones cameras used to suck big balls, now they are as good as others 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidhead Posted October 10, 2019 #24 Share Posted October 10, 2019 4 minutes ago, aztek said: it seems like 1k is too much for i phones, but then comparable models from other brands are same price, not to mention no one forces you to buy 11pro, they still sell 8 for 450. not to mention vast majority of people do not pay 1k outright, they pay about 30-40 a month, i actually did buy 11 pro for my wife, and i paid about $1100 for the phone, case and glass protector, and taxes of course, i paid full price, i always do, i never take payment plan on phones. i actually like their 3 camera system very much, i phones cameras used to suck big balls, now they are as good as others The cell phone I'm typing on is the Google pixel 2.... Made in Taiwan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Duck Posted October 10, 2019 #25 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) 17 minutes ago, acidhead said: Again, China needs the West more than the West needs China. There are many other nations who will gladly accept Apples offer to set up shop. Also, the only reason you purchase the latest model iPhone for 1K is because thats what the market dictates to those who want it in the West. Again, that's a cool story. The NBA is not The West; and, corporations will continue to add value for their shareholders first and foremost. I'll buy you a beer when people start boycotting iPhones and the Houston Rockets. Edited October 10, 2019 by Golden Duck 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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