knicksh20b wrote:MadGrinch wrote:Clyde_Style wrote:
I will say I respect the time and thought you've put into considering it, even though I still believe you're filetting this fish in ways I don't agree with.
I'm sure Lebron knows a few things about China. He's as much of a businessman as any NBA player.
But to say Morey REQUIRED further education prior to stating he supports the rights of Hong Kongers is to me not a legit talking point. Sure, there are ramifications all around. Of course there are, especially with the wackadoodle crap coming out of our WH complicating all aspects of foreign relations and global trade these days. But to require any individual to supplicate their core belief to the mothership of the NBA is nonsense to me.
Yeah, I'm sure Lebron knows somebody somewhere along the supply chain will lose their job if NBA relations with China get damaged and game and shoe deals get affected. But the way Lebron carries himself is like a haughty know-it-all who says I know the score and you don't, but I won't spell it out, because well, uh, I'm too advanced and you're uneducated and the world can't handle the truth (plus it will muck up the detente we (sic, me and the NBA and Nike) now need to work out with the PRC), so basically it still comes down to Lebron saying shut your pie hole.
I don't see a guy who has compassion for the worker who is put out of work because less widgets get made as a result. I see a self-absorbed high ranking chess piece trying to treat Morey like a pawn so fck Lebron.
But Lebron should know more than virtually everyone on this topic , he spent last week in China and has had business dealings in China for about 15 years but more importantly China's actual role in the HK protest is minimal , its not China beating people's heads in, its the Hong Kong police . China does have an army unit in town but it hasn't been used serving a purpose similar to the national guard here ...its just there.
everyone knows if it gets too out of hand China will take control , and no one wants that , not the protesters nor the Hong Kong govt...not even China.
People clamor for James' opinion and he gives it and then the same people want to critique it for not aligning with their sentiments , which is simply unfair . Either you want his opinion or you don't, but you can't control how he feels.
you have your opinion
i have mine
he has his .
if his is "I'm trying to make some money here ." that's a valid opinion , although he also believed his(as well as the rest of the nba contingent that went to China) safety was risked as well and he wasn't cool with it which is why he specifically said it could have waited a week. He also sincerely wants Morey either fired or punished for his actions which the NBA has stated it won't do .
honestly i don't think he should have a say outside of his own business , but if it is actually his business who is anyone to criticize it ?
he shouldn't be under any pressure to back the people of Hong Kong for rights i'll once again mention don't exist in his own country .
1. It's all about China right now. I don't know where you're getting your sources from but it's all about China. If you're right and Lebron really understands what's going on in Hong Kong, then he is morally culpable. He's either really misinformed and shooting off his mouth. Or he's informed about everything, and still shooting off his mouth.
2. Based on that reasoning, we need to rethink their whole stance about supporting Lebron's social justice stances. He's very good at playing the victim with his Shut Up and Dribble documentaries, but what I'm hearing right now from him is other lives don't matter. There's so many problems in this world. Maybe I need to tell my own community to take care of their problems first...maybe we shouldn't care about the issues like police brutality and racism until we fix all of our problems. Police brutality, racism, prison overcrowding, slavery? Not our problem. Nothing to do with us.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/world/asia/what-are-hong-kong-protests-about.htmlis the new york times a qualified enough source for you?
Fueled by anger toward the police, as well as the slow erosion of civil liberties, the largely leaderless protests morphed into a broader, more complicated movement about protecting freedoms, democracy and Hong Kong’s autonomy. The list of protesters’ demands has grown to include amnesty for arrested participants and direct elections for all lawmakers and the chief executive.
Only one of their demands has been met: the withdrawal of the extradition bill. So protesters have continued to take over streets, and have adapted their tactics in hopes of forcing the government’s hand.
While the vast majority of participants have been nonviolent, clashes between the police and young protesters in hard hats, masks and black T-shirts have escalated sharply. The police have used water cannons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets while dispersing crowds, and their tactics have been criticized by protesters and international watchdogs. Videos of particularly brutal arrests have infuriated protesters, especially a scene from October in which a police officer shot a protester in the chest with a live round.
Having felt their peaceful rallies were ineffective, a minority of protesters has become increasingly violent. The violent demonstrators have thrown bricks and Molotov cocktails, and in one case stabbed a police officer. The police say that one homemade bomb has been detonated during a protest. On several occasions, protesters have doled out vigilante justice, beating people who were perceived to be against their movement. And there has been considerable property damage to the train system, which protesters have accused of supporting the police, and businesses seen as pro-China.
Still, nonviolent protests have continued. The demonstrators have staged strikes, surrounded police stations, shut down the airport and formed huge marches, while the city’s creative class has turned protest into art and song.
Much of the international intrigue is based on closely examining how China responds to the protests, and how much democracy its leaders can stomach in its efforts to prove its model works.
Thus far, fears of a Tiananmen-style crackdown have not borne out. The Chinese military has a garrison in Hong Kong, but its deployment is widely seen as a worst-case scenario that all sides want to avoid. The international business community would likely see a military intervention as the end of “one country, two systems,” and an exodus of businesses could soon follow.
Instead, China has tried to turn public opinion against the protesters. The state media has depicted them as violent separatists, even though most protesters say they are uninterested in independence. The state media fanned the flames of a backlash against the N.B.A. after a team executive expressed support of the protests on Twitter.
how about the BBC?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49317695Hong Kong's protests started in June against proposals to allow extradition to mainland China.
Critics feared this could undermine the city's judicial independence and endanger dissidents.
Until 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony - meaning it was controlled by Britain. Since returning to Chinese rule, it has more autonomy than the mainland, and its people more rights. The arrangement is known as "one country, two systems".
City leader Carrie Lam agreed to suspend the extradition bill, but demonstrations developed to include demands for full democracy and an inquiry into police actions.
The bill was withdrawn in September. But clashes between police and activists have become increasingly violent, with police firing live bullets and protesters attacking officers and throwing petrol bombs.
The extradition bill which triggered the first protest was introduced in April. It would have allowed for criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China under certain circumstances.
Opponents said this risked exposing Hong Kongers to unfair trials and violent treatment. They also argued the bill would give China greater influence over Hong Kong and could be used to target activists and journalists.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. After weeks of protests, leader Carrie Lam eventually said the bill would be suspended indefinitely.
How did the protests escalate?
Protesters feared the bill could be revived, so demonstrations continued, calling for it to be withdrawn completely.
By then clashes between police and protesters had become more frequent and violent.
In July, protesters stormed parliament, defacing parts of it. A masked mob armed with sticks - suspected to be triad gangsters - also assaulted protesters and passers-by inside Yuen Long station, far from the city centre.
In August, one protester was injured in the eye, leading to demonstrators wearing red-coloured eye patches to show their solidarity.
Protest action at Hong Kong international airport in August also saw renewed clashes and led to hundreds of flights being cancelled.
In September, the bill was finally withdrawn, but protesters said this was "too little, too late".
On 1 October, while China was celebrating 70 years of Communist Party rule, Hong Kong experienced one of its most "violent and chaotic days".
An 18-year-old was shot in the chest with a live bullet, one of six rounds were fired by police. Protesters also fought officers with poles, petrol bombs and other projectiles.
The government has now banned protesters wearing face masks - though they have defied this.
What do the protesters want?
Some protesters have adopted the motto: "Five demands, not one less!" These are:
For the protests not to be characterised as a "riot"
Amnesty for arrested protesters
An independent inquiry into alleged police brutality
Implementation of complete universal suffrage
The fifth demand, the withdrawal of the bill, has already been met.
Some also want the resignation of Carrie Lam, whom they view as Beijing's puppet.
Protests supporting the Hong Kong movement have spread across the globe, with rallies taking place in the UK, France, US, Canada and Australia.
In many cases, people supporting the demonstrators were confronted by pro-Beijing rallies.
Chinese president Xi Jinping has warned against separatism, saying any attempt to divide China would end in "bodies smashed and bones ground to powder".
What is Hong Kong's status?
Hong Kong is a former British colony handed back to China in 1997.
It has its own judiciary and a separate legal system from mainland China. Those rights include freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.
But those freedoms - the Basic Law - expire in 2047 and it is not clear what Hong Kong's status will then be
how about aljezeera?
https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/hong-kong-leader-home-building-resolve-crisis-191017122239965.htmlSome observers say that even if Lam's proposals are implemented, they are unlikely to help Hong Kong's poorest.
"Too little, too late. It was not addressing the real issues," Johnson Yeung, a protestor and a member of the executive committee of Amnesty International's Hong Kong division, told Al Jazeera.
Yeung says that some of the measures proposed are counterproductive.
"She had already promised to increase housing supply when she was elected," he said. "That's a long time away and will not help with the immediate situation."
Yeung also believes that the government should take back land only from big property developers, instead of from the poor in squatters' villages. Lam's proposal would see both developers and squatters losing land.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam faces intense opposition to her plans to boost Hong Kong's economy [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
In fact, the shares of property developers like New World Development, Henderson Land Development and CK Asset Holdings Limited surged on Thursday as investors bet that Lam's moves would actually raise property prices, making it even harder for many ordinary people to buy homes.
Ng Wai-Tung, a community organiser at the Society for Community Organization (SoCO), a nongovernmental organisation, agrees that Lam's land acquisitions and rent subsidies will do little to curb prices.
"Landlords are still free to raise rents. If rents increase, people cannot afford them, so it doesn't solve the problem," Ng, who has worked with the city's homeless for more than two decades, told Al Jazeera.
Others also believe that raising the limits of how much people can borrow will also be counterproductive.
"This will actually raise housing prices. If people are allowed to borrow more, then landlords will see reason to bring prices up," Yeung said. "[Lam]'s not helping the general public if she does not dare to confront the big land developers."
"Without a concrete response to the [protestors'] five demands, using housing to calm down the situation is wishful thinking."
where have you seen news that China is doing anything of note ?
every article i have read say its the Hong Kong police in action?
not China , in fact the 1st article i posted specifically stated they are not involved .
Lebron's life is his own as are his motivations . I'm not going to question his beliefs because he started a school in Akron but not Detroit to mean he doesn't really care about education. Or that he has a television show to air some of his stances but not some others people believe need airtime. People do what they are comfortable doing , that goes for Lebron , that goes for me , that goes for you...its pretty much universal.
