{"id":12345,"date":"2019-10-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/protestors-draw-attention-to-tibet-at-nba-game-in-washington-d-c\/"},"modified":"2019-10-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T22:00:00","slug":"protestors-draw-attention-to-tibet-at-nba-game-in-washington-d-c","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/protestors-draw-attention-to-tibet-at-nba-game-in-washington-d-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Protestors draw attention to Tibet at NBA game in Washington D.C."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Tibetan American Tenzing Barshee with a placard saying \u201cFree Tibet\u201d and his friend James San Mateo with the Tibetan flag at the NBA game in Washington, D.C. on October 9, 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A Tibetan American protestor is speaking out after he and a friend were ejected from the Washington Wizards game against the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the game in the Capitol One Arena in Washington, DC, Tenzing \nBarshee, a Tibetan American from Virginia, held up a sign saying \u201cFree \nTibet,\u201d while his friend held the Tibetan flag. Tibet, a historically \nindependent country, has been brutally occupied by China for the past 60 years<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to video seen online<\/a>, Barshee and his friend were approached and spoken to by several officials before eventually being escorted out of the stands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contacted by the International Campaign for Tibet on Thursday, Oct. \n10, Barshee said he was invited to the game by his friend James San \nMateo, who is a Wizards\u2019 season ticket holder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t pass the opportunity [e]specially after all that has \nhappened since Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey\u2019s tweet and NBA\u2019s \ncommissioner Adam Silver\u2019s statement about the tweet along with Joe \nTsai, Brooklyn Nets owner\/Alibaba Chairman statement,\u201d Barshee said by \nemail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to use this opportunity to shine a spotlight on Tibet\u2019s plight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barshee said he and San Mateo had the Tibetan flag unfurled for \nnearly two quarters of the game before security staff warned them to put\n it away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[T]his is when we decided to pull out the Free Tibet sign with \n#StandwithMorey, #StandwithHK and started to scream Free Tibet!!,\u201d \nBarshee wrote in his email. \u201cWe were then escorted out of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans waking up to Chinese censorship<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Barshee\u2019s ejection comes after days of exploding controversy over \nMorey\u2019s tweet on Oct. 4, which showed support for pro-democracy \nprotestors in Hong Kong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morey\u2019s tweet set off a cascade of vitriolic and punitive action from\n Chinese officials and organizations. However, China\u2019s hysterical \nresponse appears to have backfired, as Americans now seem to be waking up to the pervasive reach of Chinese censorship<\/a> in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just last year, US hotel chain Marriott apologized<\/a>\n to China for listing Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Tibet on their \nwebsite as separate countries from China. Even more egregiously, \nMarriott later fired an American employee<\/a> who liked a pro-Tibet tweet from a company account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also last year, Mercedes Benz apologized for quoting Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama<\/a> in an Instagram post, calling the post<\/a> an \u201cextremely erroneous message.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress members\u2019 letter to NBA mentions Tibet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Now the focus of attention has shifted to the NBA. According to the Associated Press<\/a>, during the same Wizards game on Oct. 9, several attendees shouted out for a free Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That same day, a bipartisan group of US senators and representatives \nwrote to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver saying \u201cIt is outrageous that the \nChinese Communist Party is using its economic power to suppress the \nspeech of Americans inside the United States. It is also outrageous that\n the NBA has caved to Chinese government demands for contrition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter is signed by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz \n(R-Texas), Ben Sasse, (R-Neb.) and Ron Wyden, (D-Ore.) and Reps. Jim \nBanks (R-Ind.), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) and \nAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter urges Silver to take a number of vital steps, including \nclarifying \u201cin internal association documents that public commentary on \ninternational human rights repression\u2014including in Tibet, Hong Kong, and\n Xinjiang\u2014falls within expected standards of public behavior and \nexpression.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Tibetan American protestor is speaking out after he and a friend were ejected from the Washington Wizards game against the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12346,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[691],"news_tag":[],"class_list":["post-12345","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProtestors draw attention to Tibet at NBA game in Washington D.C. - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/protestors-draw-attention-to-tibet-at-nba-game-in-washington-d-c\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protestors draw attention to Tibet at NBA game in Washington D.C. - 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