China Bends Another American Institution to Its Will
For all the concern about military confrontation in the South China Sea, economic leverage might be the most powerful weapon in Beijing’s arsenal. It is deployed more effectively, or at least more often, than all the missiles, tanks, and artillery in the People’s Liberation Army. If power is the ability to force others to do what you want them to do, then China exerts its power with yuan more than with bullets. And its capacity to make one of the world’s most celebrated sports leagues beseech forgiveness of a noncrime is a case study in how it’s done.
On October 4, Daryl Morey, the general manager of the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets, posted a rather anodyne tweet , “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.” In short order, nearly exclusive rights to stream all NBA games in the country, and ranging from sportswear manufacturers to a bank in Shanghai. Just as speedily, the Rockets’ owner that Morey “does NOT speak for the @HoustonRockets.” Before the weekend was out, the NBA itself had issued a statement of contrition (though the league’s commissioner has since said, perhaps confusingly, that he supports its staff’s right to free speech).
