China Cuts Ties with NBA Team Houston Rockets

On Sunday October 6, the China Basketball Association (CBA) issued a statement via Weibo that they were cutting ties with the NBA’s Houston Rockets. The Houston Rockets have a well known connection with the Chinese market, with many fans and supporters from both mainland China and Hong Kong. The CBA announced that they were suspending “exchanges and cooperation” with the Houston Rockets in response to a tweet that Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey released. Morey tweeted a picture with the caption “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” This pro Hong Kong statement triggered the CBA alongside multiple Chinese businesses (Li-Ning and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank) to end their current relationship with the Houston Rockets.

Tension between Hong Kong and mainland China is at an all time high. Any business or person (especially American) who criticizes Chinese President Xi Jinping will be denounced immediately by Chinese entities. Opposition statements to Morey’s comments include: “We want to express our indignation and strong condemnation… We have already stopped our cooperation with the Houston Rockets, and continue to urge them to give a clear answer on this matter.” from Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning and “SPD Bank Credit Card Center expresses strong protest and opposition to the wrong remarks made by Houston Rockets” by SPD Bank.

Morey’s future with the Houston Rockets in currently unknown. Since Morey is regarded as one of the NBA’s best General Managers it would be difficult for the Rockets to fire him. But the NBA is a global brand with China representing their largest international market for expansion.

Sources: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/10/6/20901828/daryl-morey-hong-kong-china-houston-rockets-tweet-controversy

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-basketball-nba/chinese-basketball-body-halts-cooperation-with-houston-rockets-over-offending-tweet-idUSKCN1WL04T

 

 

China Celebrates its 70th Birthday

On October 1, 2019, China celebrated its 70th birthday of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  In Bejing’s Tiananmen Square, celebrations for the founding of the People’s Republic of China occurred that were “open to officials, select members and foreign dignitaries only, but [the festivities] will be watched by hundreds of millions of people around the country”.  The celebrations included a speech from President Xi Jinping, a large military parade, a gala and performance held in the square, and there were also celebrations of the culture and civil life. The article by BBC News that I read, showed the extensive military parade that included “15,000 miliary personal, 580 pieces of military equipment and 160 aircraft that made an appearance”. To me, this type of military parade was used to show off all their new and power armory that they could use whenever they need as they also included some of their new technology of military tanks, helicopters, DF-41, and their new intercontinental ballistic missile. After the military parade, there was a performance that included about 100,000 civilian performers from farms, teachers, doctors, and students on floats. This day was not only about celebration. There were protesters in the streets of Hong Kong where police used tear gas and arrested those who were blocking the streets. The protesters were protesting Bejing’s increasing control over the territory’s society and politics. The protests caused security in Bejing to be increased for the weeks leading up to this large celebration with strict control over anything in the air over the area where the parade was to take place. This article also included a short summary of the protests occurring in Hong Kong and two short videos. The first includes clips of celebrations of China’s 70th birthday; the second is about a former Communist soldier telling his story. I found this second video very interesting and I would encourage those interested in China’s history to watch it.

A Bad Joke (Oct. 8 Class)

The story, “A Bad Joke” in Ha Jin’s The Bridegroom is a classic example of censorship and the lack of freedom of speech that plagues China. In the story, a man makes a joke that is at first innocent with no namedropping, but through the grapevine it gets twisted into using the name of the Chairman, which ends up getting him into trouble. Because this was a negative joke toward a political figure, it is seen as a huge no in Chinese society, because the Chairman should be respected, not mocked. I found this interesting, because I knew that China did not have the same freedom of speech that we do here in America, but I didn’t really consider that something so seemingly innocent could be such a bad thing. Here in America, we obviously have freedom of speech, and I see instances almost daily of people mocking political figures, celebrities, or other people that are supposed to be looked up to. For example, just about anything President Trump posts on Twitter ends up being made fun of in some way or another, but nobody is out there getting arrested for it. The other day, Trump tweeted out a meme of the band Nickelback with the caption “LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH” (the image itself has since been removed due to copyright violations and the fact that the band complained). Within hours, many people were editing out the photo and replacing it with other photos, whether they were dumb, random, funny, or whatever else, to create a fake tweet that looks like Trump posted some weird picture with the same caption as above. Since this is America, nobody is getting in trouble for this, and everyone finds it quite humorous. This is the same type of situation as what happened in Ha Jin’s story, but due to cultural and political differences, the consequences differ greatly.

Gender Roles in China (Oct. 1 Class)

While watching the documentary over the weekend, I found the women’s viewpoints on gender roles interesting. I already knew that culturally, Chinese parents preferred to have a son, because that way the family name could be carried on and any possessions, such as land, could be passed on to the son once the father got too old or died. Before watching this documentary, I never really considered how the women felt about this, so when they talked about how they were often seen as a “small happiness” when they were born compared to when their brothers were born. They also talked about how they were under so much pressure to get married, and that some marriages were arranged or some couples were put together by a matchmaker. I found it funny and very relatable when one of the women said that she was not interested in finding a man at the time because she would rather be hanging out with her friends instead. I found it funny because I feel the same way. There are multiple couples I went to high school with who are already married or at least engaged, which is great for them and I am glad that they are happy, but that kind of thing is not on my mind at the moment. I liked that despite the cultural differences and the situations, I was still able to find some way to relate with the women that were shown in the documentary.

Tik Tok and Censorship in China

I know I am incredibly talented when it comes to wasting my own time. The recent emergence and popularity surge of Tik Tok has made it even easier for me to do so. Speaking of Tik Tok, I recently read an article about how certain content on the Tik Tok platform is being censored in China. The article specifically references restricting Tiananmen Square protests, Tibetan independence, and the Falun Gong: a religious practice centered around meditation and truth that has been regarded by some outsiders as “cult-like.” After reading more about the blocked subject matter and more about the response by the social media start-up, it seems their efforts in blocking such content serves to prevent conflict, especially conflict between religious sects and/or ethnic groups. I was then intrigued as to what other types of content are censored on other social media platforms in China. It turns out a lot is blocked in China, and in order to access that content, you need a VPN, or virtual private network. These VPNs are typically used by corporations to protect sensitive data, but personal VPNs are becoming more common here in the States in an effort to protect personal privacy. Basically, you would want or need a VPN in order to hide or change your IP address (to evade encryptions), protect the data you transfer over public Wi-Fi, mask your location, or access blocked content. So it turns out people in China generally do not have wide range access to a lot that is available on the internet. Feel free to check out more here while I return to watching Tik Tok, but with greater appreciation.

Letter About Divorce

I thought that the letter from the man divorcing his wife was very interesting. I think that Professor McGrath brought up an idea that definitely didn’t cross my mind when I read this piece the first time around when he said the wife could have had depression. There were many expectations of women during this time period and if a woman did have a mental health issue like depression, it would be significantly harder to be up to par with a husband’s wishes without the necessary help. I think that the stigmas around mental health still exist today which is why it is so difficult for people to overcome their disorder, and I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like in the past when stigmas were just developed and people weren’t combating them. With the necessary care would his wife be what he wanted? Should that matter? I can’t say what the answer would have been, but I think in today’s world it would.

IMA Experience

Last week I went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. Surprisingly, this was my first time attending the museum even though I am in my Junior year. I would have to say I enjoyed my experience especially the ancient Chinese artifacts they had which relates to class. I was not aware of the large selection of ancient artifacts they had including some stuff that was from the B.C era. I genuinely learned a good amount from this experience through the pieces in the museum, I could see the teachings of people like Confucius and other Chinese philosophers in some of the pieces. Overall, it was pretty astounding to see such old relics and see that they could still be used today, they were really ahead of their time. Another section of the museum that I enjoyed was the Imperial and Warlord era of Japan, they had many samurai swords and brief descriptions about how they were made and when they were used I found this very fascinating. I have always found ancient Asia extremely interesting not only the culture, but the geography and architecture as well. Specifically, ancient China was one of the most advanced ancient civilizations in my opinion.

Besides the art pieces that were related to class I also enjoyed many of the other exhibits especially the modern art. I have never really been a huge fan of modern art, but the IMA surprised me on this one, I noticed that a lot of the modern pieces included some sort of illusion or deeper meaning, which I thought was pretty cool. I was keeping an eye out for exhibits from the Middle East region, but did not find anything. In general, I found this trip fascinating and enjoyed being able to relate some of my knowledge from class to the pieces in the museum. Also, I would like to say that Benny and Hanako were great hosts they definitely enhanced my experience.

 

Visiting the IMA

Last Thursday, I went to the IMA with Benny, Hanako Gavia, and Will as part of my ICR. During our trip, we were able to look at many of the exhibits and collections at the IMA. This was the first time I had ever been there and I was thoroughly impressed by the museum and the gardens that we walked through at the end of our visit. I really enjoyed looking at some of the contemporary art, the Samurai Swords, and the fashion redefined exhibit. During our visit we were also able to walk through the Chinese art exhibit. Benny shared many interesting facts and thoughts as we were walking through the museum. I really enjoyed learning about some of China’s history and talking with Benny. I would encourage anyone who is interested in any type of art to check out the IMA. 

China’s One-Child Policy

While reading Ha Jin’s short story, “The Woman from New York”, I began to question when this story was taking place. I have always been aware that China had a one-child limit to help slow the population growth and it had continued for decades and was only recently lifted. According to this article from 2015, the policy was lifted and families were allowed to have two children instead of only one. The one-child policy was enacted in 1979 to help slow the population growth rate and is estimated to have prevented 400 million births. Those who had violated this policy were fined, however over the years, some provinces had become more relaxed about the policy. Overall, the policy had “led to forced abortions, female infanticide, and the under-reporting of female births”. This then caused an imbalance in genders with more males than females. This was due to the fact that males had a higher status in the Chinese culture as we have seen in many of the readings for class. I have found it interesting that the Chinese government has the ability to tell families how many children to have and what people should study as seen in the short story “An Official Reply”. 

I know that at times, I had thought that it would have been nice if someone had chosen my major, or if someone told me what my job should be, but I know that I would have also resented anyone who told me that I was going to be a certain thing and I had to study a certain topic in school. I know that the government in China is different than the United States, and that it has changed over the years, but looking back on this time in history, it seems extreme for “officials” to tell teenagers that they are going to study one thing in college and then will use that skill in the job that is being assigned to them. I can now understand why many Chinese students come to the United States for college. If you want to read a story by the New York Times about a boy who came to the US for school, read this article. 

We can’t blame History

In today’s class discussion there seemed to be an underlying tone regarding the letter by the man getting ready to divorce his wife. People look at figures in history and judge them by today’s societal norms too often. I’ve always believed it a foolish practice. We cannot look at a person from the past and say what a horrible person he or she is without looking into the context in which they exist. Cultural norms are different, laws are different, and most importantly the idea of life and humans as a species has changed throughout history. The concept of civilized has changed dramatically, and we currently lived in the most privileged era of human history where simple tasks and problems might have been life altering in the past.

I think its always important to judge a person by the time and cultural in which they existed rather than to our ideals of how one should be now. It is easy to demonize a historical figure for portraying what we say is sexism or misogyny now to what was the norm of the cultural in which they were alive was. In all fairness to the writer of the letter, in his cultural times she was actually in the wrong, and he in the right.