{"id":1443212,"date":"2022-04-18T09:01:17","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T13:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1443212"},"modified":"2022-04-18T09:01:29","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T13:01:29","slug":"blood-money-how-the-united-statess-sports-proprietors-come-in-bed-with-communist-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blood-money-how-the-united-statess-sports-proprietors-come-in-bed-with-communist-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood Money: How The united states&#039;s Sports Proprietors Come in Bed with Communist China"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fblood-money-how-the-united-statess-sports-proprietors-come-in-bed-with-communist-china%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1443212&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">There is no question that basketball is China\u2019s most popular sport. \u201cRoughly\u00a0800 million people in China tuned into an NBA game. \u2026 That\u2019s more than twice the population of the United States,\u201d NBC News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/meet-the-press\/nba-s-hong-kong-flare-overlooks-deep-u-s-investment-n1069096\">reported<\/a> in 2019. That was before Daryl Moray sent his simple tweet,\u00a0\u201cFight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong,\u201d in October of 2019 and started a firestorm that would shake the NBA to its core and begin a nearly 18-month-long <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20220330-china-state-broadcaster-airs-first-nba-match-since-2020\">ban<\/a> on NBA games aired on Chinese television.<\/p>\n<p>This was also before ESPN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/33723055\/brooklyn-nets-owner-joe-tsai-face-nba-uneasy-china-relationship\">exposed<\/a> Brooklyn Nets Owner Joe Tsai this week, in a report titled \u201cBrooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai is the face of NBA\u2019s uneasy China relationship.\u201d Tsai, who also owns WNBA\u2019s New York Liberty and the San Diego Seals of the National Lacrosse League, is worth $8.5 billion, mostly from his Amazon-esque company Alibaba, headquartered in Hangzhou, China, with a revenue of over $700 billion per year. Tsai is among many owners in the NBA and other sports associations who have shown public support for protest movements that are publicly critical of America\u2019s supposed human rights struggles, while at the same time covering up, and in some cases defending, China\u2019s abysmal human rights record.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>ESPN reported that Tsai\u2019s \u201cefforts to support the social justice movement in the U.S. come into conflict with statements he made about the personal freedoms of Chinese citizens and the silence around the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region of the Communist country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Human rights groups have warned the world of the government-led atrocities against Uyghur people in China\u2019s Xinjiang region, where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/04\/14\/chinese-concentration-camp-survivor-details-torture-indoctrination\/\">reports<\/a> of concentration camps, forced labor, torture, rape, sterilization, and assimilation have plagued the Chinese Communist state for many years. As a result, pressure\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2021\/10\/22\/congressmen-call-for-olympics-to-ban-chinese-team-over-genocide\/\">mounted<\/a> on the Chinese government during the Beijing Olympics, dubbed the \u201cGenocide Games,\u201d to stop the inhumane treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe NBA is a fan-first league,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2019\/10\/07\/brooklyn-nets-owner-defends-chinese-sovereignty-amid-hong-kong-rockets-rift\/\">wrote<\/a> Tsai. \u201cWhen hundreds of millions of fans are furious over an issue, the league, and anyone associated with the NBA, will have to pay attention,\u201d Tsai said, presumably referring to fans only in China.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cClearly, something is bigger than basketball,\u201d Qin Gang, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S.,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/01\/26\/nba-interrupts-wizards-clippers-game-with-chinese-ambassador-speech\/\">said<\/a> in a pre-recorded speech during a\u00a0Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers game in January 2022 in a celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year which\u00a0Capital One Arena billed as an \u201capolitical event,\u201d and included\u00a0a performance of <em>The Star-Spangled Banner<\/em> on a traditional Chinese instrument, and other activities \u201chonoring Chinese culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Qin may have a point, and the thing bigger than basketball for many NBA owners could indeed be mollifying the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Chinese Ambassador to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/US?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#US<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AmbQinGang?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AmbQinGang<\/a> greeted spectators for Washington Wizards vs Los Angeles Clippers on Tue night, sending congratulations for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NBA<\/a> 75th Anniversary. He also wished the Chinese and US delegations <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TeamUSA<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Beijing2022?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Beijing2022<\/a> have good performance. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ChinaUSRelations?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ChinaUSRelations<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Hs4i6HasKS\">pic.twitter.com\/Hs4i6HasKS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Qingqing_Chen (@qingqingparis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/qingqingparis\/status\/1486227664448929792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 26, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Breitbart News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/04\/15\/report-brooklyn-nets-disinvited-daryl-morey-luxury-suite-after-hong-kong-controversy\/\">noted<\/a> that Tsai\u2019s company, Alibaba, \u201chas a troubling habit of funding the companies developing the technology to track, record, and control China\u2019s inhabitants. As a result, China has the most advanced, inhuman surveillance state ever created. And the NBA\u2019s favorite team owner has helped China build the infrastructure to create that oppressive regime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fox News further <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/nets-joe-tsai-rift-daryl-morey-hong-kong-tweet-china-ties\">reported<\/a> on Alibaba\u2019s role in the suppression of the Uyghur people:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The technologies Alibaba helped produce were used for government surveillance, according to a congressional report in 2020. The technologies have been used to \u2018re-educate\u2019 Uyghur Muslims and force millions into camps in the western part of China \u2013 something the Chinese government has denied.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Tsai, the Taiwan-born billionaire, is a naturalized citizen of Canada, holds a Hong Kong passport, and identifies as ethnic Chinese. He has been very forgiving of the Chinese government restricting its people\u2019s freedoms. In 2019 at the University of California, Tsai said, \u201cChina today is a single-party system, so there\u2019s going to be restrictions on academic freedoms and freedom of expression. \u2026 Dissent has to take a backseat and whatever they\u2019re doing is right,\u201d according to Fox News. The outlet also quoted Tsai in 2018, telling an audience at the Milken Institute, \u201cIn the American context, we talk about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, but in the China context, being able to restrict some of those freedoms is an important element to keep the stability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These pro-Communist China comments differ greatly from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bksjf.org\/initiatives#voices\">comments<\/a> made by Tsai\u2019s wife, Clara Wu, explaining\u00a0the Joe and Clara\u00a0Tsai Foundation\u2019s Social Justice Fund, which the pair created in 2020:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote>\n<p>That\u2019s why it is so important to us to invest in the Black leaders combating racial injustice from every angle right here in Brooklyn. \u2026 They are on the ground day in and day out \u2014 working to eliminate racial disparities in our healthcare system, advocating for environmental justice, amplifying the untold stories of Black Americans, mentoring young people of color, and fighting on the front lines of the most pressing social justice issues of our time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Under the title of \u201cPlayer Voice,\u201d Tsai\u2019s Social Justice Fund <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bseglobal.net\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/social-justice-commitment-statement\/\">said<\/a> in its Commitment Statement, \u201cWe are committed to supporting our athletes and amplifying their voices for activism around anti-racism, anti-discrimination, and equal opportunity,\u201d which is the opposite of China\u2019s restrictions on freedom of expression and the country\u2019s squashing of dissent that Tsai so readily defends.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_13519037\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Hong-Kong-riot-police-detain-protesters-ap.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13519037\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Hong-Kong-riot-police-detain-protesters-ap.jpg\" alt=\"Hong Kong riot police guard detained anti-government protesters in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong, Wednesday, May 27, 2020. Hong Kong police massed outside the legislature complex Wednesday, ahead of debate on a bill that would criminalize abuse of the Chinese national anthem in the semi-autonomous city. (AP Photo\/Vincent Yu)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Hong Kong riot police guard detained anti-government protesters in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong, Wednesday, May 27, 2020. Hong Kong police massed outside the legislature complex Wednesday, ahead of debate on a bill that would criminalize abuse of the Chinese national anthem in the semi-autonomous city. (AP Photo\/Vincent Yu)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Other NBA owners have jumped on the China money train as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet us be perfectly clear,\u00a0this is just the beginning,\u201d Miami Heat Owner Micky Arison <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MiamiHEAT\/status\/1273978763525709824\">said<\/a> during a\u00a0Juneteenth 2020 video released by the team called \u201cOur Pledge for Social Justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe pledge to use our platform and resources to promote equality and social justice,\u201d members of the Heat organization said in the video, and promised \u201cto make financial contributions to organizations working to rid the world of racial inequality\u201d and \u201cto enhance our company mentoring and internship programs to provide opportunities for black students to gain experience and advance their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our Pledge for Social Justice<\/p>\n<p>We will not sit on the sidelines. This is just the beginning.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BlackLivesMatter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Juneteenth?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Juneteenth<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZGqk8cfhKe\">pic.twitter.com\/ZGqk8cfhKe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MiamiHEAT\/status\/1273978763525709824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 19, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe want to assure you that the Miami Heat will not sit on the sidelines,\u201d Arison proclaimed about his commitment to battling America\u2019s \u201csystemic racism.\u201d One thing Arison has definitely sat on the sidelines about is China\u2019s human rights offenses. However, Arison not bringing attention to China\u2019s transgressions might be good for his multi-million dollar business dealings with the communist state and excellent for the People\u2019s Liberation Army Navy, also known as the Chinese Navy. Along with owning the Heat, Arison is also Chairman of the Board at\u00a0Carnival Corporation, the world\u2019s largest cruise operator, who, as ESPN reported, \u201chas a joint venture with a state-owned Chinese shipbuilder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, Carnival Cruise Line is helping the Chinese Navy build and modernize their warships.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA\u00a0new <a href=\"https:\/\/features.csis.org\/china-shadow-warships\/\">report<\/a> says\u00a0that commercial shipbuilding efforts by prominent companies \u2013 including Carnival Cruise Lines, CMA CGM, and Taiwan\u2019s Evergreen Shipping \u2013 are helping China finance warships,\u201d Captain <a href=\"https:\/\/gcaptain.com\/is-taiwans-evergreen-helping-to-finance-chinas-naval-expansion\/\">reported<\/a> in April, citing\u00a0a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/china-shipbuilding-taiwan-firm-likely-aiding-chinese-navy-build-up-us-think-tank-2022-04-07\/\">article<\/a> by Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>CSIS <a href=\"https:\/\/features.csis.org\/china-shadow-warships\/\">reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Perhaps even more striking, in 2016, Carnival Cruise Lines entered a joint venture with [China State Shipbuilding Corporation] CSSC to stand up CSSC Cruise Technology Development. As part of the $1.5 billion deal, Carnival transferred two of its existing cruise ships to the new joint venture. Another two vessels are being built at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipyard, located just across the Yangtze River from Jiangnan. While CSIS has not observed the construction of military vessels at Waigaoqiao, the shipyard is operated by yet another CSSC subsidiary.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>At face value, sharing capital and technology with CSSC subsidiaries may seem innocuous, but it should raise red flags for nations concerned about China\u2019s growing military power. Facilitating better resource-sharing between military and civilian ventures is a critical element of China\u2019s MCF strategy, and many of China\u2019s shipbuilding facilities are being used for both commercial and military operations. Foreign capital can also aid in offsetting the research and development costs of military assets. Workers trained to construct commercial vessels may even be able to transfer some of their skills when working on PLAN warships.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In August, Cruise Industry News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruiseindustrynews.com\/cruise-news\/25680-carnival-s-china-built-cruise-ship-is-coming-along.html\">announced<\/a> that \u201cCarnival\u2019s China-Built Cruise Ship Is Coming Along\u201d and included photos of the ship\u2019s construction ahead of its planned 2023 launch:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20681516\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/china-shipyard-carnival-cruise-ship.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20681516\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/china-shipyard-carnival-cruise-ship.png\" alt=\"China State Shipbuilding Corporation\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>China State Shipbuilding Corporation<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>China\u2019s navy has long caused disruption in the South China Sea, as it bullies other smaller nations with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2021\/03\/04\/china-releases-footage-military-beach-landing-drill-south-china-sea\/\">claims<\/a>\u00a0to land such as the Paracel Islands, illegally\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2018\/05\/29\/philippines-duterte-ready-go-war-south-china-sea\/\">mines<\/a> the natural resources in nations such as the Philippines, and terrorizes countries such as\u00a0Brunei, Taiwan, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-malaysia-china-southchinasea\/chinese-ships-intruded-into-malaysian-waters-89-times-in-four-years-report-says-idUSKCN24F17U\">Malaysia<\/a>, Indonesia, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china-announces-south-china-sea-drills-close-vietnam-coast-2022-03-05\/\">Vietnam<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to Forbes, Mickey Arison is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/profile\/micky-arison\/?sh=2bb90ee87e62\">worth<\/a> $6.6 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Washington, DC, sports teams are not about to be left off the China money train. According to reports, Ted Leonsis, Owner of the Washington Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics and CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, wants to <a href=\"https:\/\/ballparkdigest.com\/2022\/04\/16\/washington-nationals-sale-rumored-as-lerners-evaluate-future-of-team\/\">buy<\/a>\u00a0the Washington Nationals alongside billionaire David Rubenstein, a co-founder of investment firm Carlyle Group. Carlyle\u2019s CEO, Kewsong Lee, who is also vice-chair of the U.S. China Business Council, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/finance\/carlyle-ceo-says-firm-is-committed-china-2021-09-22\/#:~:text=NEW%20YORK%2C%20Sept%2022%20(Reuters,that%20have%20unnerved%20some%20investors.\">said<\/a>\u00a0in September the firm \u201cis committed to China\u201d and will \u201cremain a long-term investor in China despite \u2018bumps\u2019 that have unnerved some investors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Leonsis\u2019s business partners at Monumental Sports include Apple heiress Laurene Powell Jobs, who owns a 20% stake in Leonsis\u2019s company, and was happy to <a href=\"https:\/\/efile.fara.gov\/docs\/6633-Supplemental-Statement-20220330-6.pdf\">take money<\/a> from China to promote the Beijing Olympics this year. The Washington Free Beacon reported, in an article titled \u201cHow China Used American Influencers To Shill for the \u2018Genocide Games\u2019\u2019:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The payments to Monumental mark another financial link between China and Jobs, whose $18 billion fortune was largely derived from cheap Chinese labor. Apple, which was accused last year of relying on slave labor,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/culture\/conscious-capitalists-for-slave-labor\/\">lobbied<\/a>\u00a0against legislation aimed at punishing China for operating forced labor camps in Xinjiang, the region home to millions of Uyghurs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Leonsis also sees untapped potential in the NHL for Chinese players and hopes for a day when a player born and trained in China will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/news\/ted-leonsis-sees-untapped-potential-of-china\/c-286356412\">play<\/a> for the NHL. \u201cI believe that China is the next great market for hockey,\u201d the Capitals owner said in the leadup to the Beijing Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>Ted Leonsis is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/profile\/theodore-leonsis\/?sh=266f2b5f6e84\">worth<\/a> $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. David Rubenstein is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/profile\/david-rubenstein\/?sh=2fe10444792f\">worth<\/a>\u00a0$4 billion, and Laurene Powell Jobs is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/profile\/laurene-powell-jobs\/?sh=3dc208cd704f\">worth<\/a> $17.1 billion.<\/p>\n<p>After Morey, who was general manager for the Rockets from 2007-2020, posted his tweet in favor of democracy in\u00a0 Hong Kong in 2019, Rockets Owner\u00a0Tilman Fertitta, who has contributed to Republican candidates, immediately distanced the team from Morey. \u201cListen\u2026@dmorey does NOT speak for the Houston Rockets,\u201d Fertitta tweeted in 2019, claiming, \u201cWe are NOT a political organization.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Listen\u2026.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dmorey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@dmorey<\/a> does NOT speak for the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HoustonRockets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@HoustonRockets<\/a>. Our presence in Tokyo is all about the promotion of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NBA<\/a> internationally and we are NOT a political organization. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@espn<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yNyQFtwTTi\">https:\/\/t.co\/yNyQFtwTTi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tilman Fertitta (@TilmanJFertitta) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TilmanJFertitta\/status\/1180330287957495809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 5, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Fertitta, the billionaire owner of the NBA franchise that famously employed Shanghai-born center Yao Ming from 1997-2011, is the owner of Landry\u2019s Inc. and owns, according to SEC documents:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>5 land-based casinos and substantial ownership of Golden Nugget Online Gaming, Inc. and over 500 restaurants, amusements, hotels, entertainment venues and other business units across 38 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, <strong>Hong Kong, mainland China<\/strong>, Mexico and Singapore, plus numerous licensed restaurants throughout the world.\u00a0 (Emphasis added)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Morton\u2019s Grille is one of the Landry restaurant chains. According to the Landry\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landrysinc.com\/franchise\/mortons-grille-franchise\">website<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Currently we have internationally franchised Morton\u2019s Grille restaurants in the following locations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Changing, China<\/li>\n<li>Guangzhou, China<\/li>\n<li>Suzhou, China<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>According to the SEC, the Bubba Gump restaurant chain, also under the Landry\u2019s name, is listed as Bubba Gump Hong Kong Limited, a Hong Kong corporation.<\/p>\n<p>Fertitta did show support for Morey after his initial statement, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn_macmahon\/status\/1180360530713661441?lang=en\">telling<\/a> ESPN, \u201cI have the best general manager in the league. \u2026 Everything is fine with Daryl and me. We got a huge backlash, and I wanted to make clear that [the organization] has no [political] position. We\u2019re here to play basketball and not to offend anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tilman Fertitta is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/profile\/tilman-fertitta\/?sh=158a3513271b\">worth<\/a> $5.8 billion, according to Forbes.<\/p>\n<p>What is the future of the relationship between the NBA and Communist China? More may be revealed following a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rubio.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/2022\/3\/rubio-joins-waltz-republican-colleagues-in-letter-demanding-the-nba-stand-up-for-human-rights-in-china\">letter<\/a> was sent last month from Sen.\u00a0Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), and eight other members of Congress to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, \u201curging him to condemn the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its human rights abuses and chastising the association for \u2018allowing the political preferences of a malevolent regime to intervene in NBA business decisions and silence its employees and players.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It remains to be seen how the NBA will reconcile its billion-dollar China business deals with an American public <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rubio.senate.gov\/public\/_cache\/files\/186372ed-39b1-42d3-bd6c-da84cea74b04\/6D2A11BED388AF9243EF44429842A1BD.2022-3-17--waltz-and-mocs-to-nba-commissioner-silver-re-ccp-and-enes-kanter-freedom.pdf\">asking<\/a> \u201chow the NBA plans to stand up to the CCP for its ongoing human rights abuses, including genocide, and educate players, employees, and franchises of the CCP\u2019s oppression,\u201d and how the NBA will answer these questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is no question that basketball is China\u2019s most popular sport. \u201cRoughly\u00a0800 million people in China tuned into an NBA game. \u2026 That\u2019s more than twice the population of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1443212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1443212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1443212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1443212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1443212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}