NKE Nike Inc

By William Mauldin and Ben Cohen 

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Mike Pence took on Nike Inc. and the National Basketball Association, accusing them of being complicit in China's efforts to curtail democracy in Hong Kong.

His comments came Thursday in a speech to a Washington think tank, where the vice president called China a strategic and economic rival and criticized Beijing's treatment of Muslim minorities in his strongest terms yet.

He also slammed the NBA for its response to a tweet by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting the democracy protests in Hong Kong, which the league called "regrettable."

"In siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of the authoritarian regime," Mr. Pence said in his speech at the Wilson Center.

China analysts have said the NBA stood its ground against China more than almost any U.S. company or multinational corporation by not apologizing for the incident and refusing to discipline Mr. Morey.

Lakers star LeBron James did criticize Mr. Morey in a tweet, saying the team executive's support for antigovernment protesters was "misinformed or not really educated on the situation" in Hong Kong.

Mr. James has a lifetime endorsement deal with Nike, which also didn't escape the vice president's lash.

"Nike promotes itself as a so-called social-justice champion, but when it comes to Hong Kong, it prefers checking its social conscience at the door," Mr. Pence said.

Earlier this year, Nike stores in China halted sales of Nike sneakers made by a Japanese collaborator after the designer provoked an outcry on Chinese social media by posting a photo in support of Hong Kong protesters.

Nike didn't respond to a request for comment.

Following Mr. Morey's tweet, Chinese institutions suspended ties with the Rockets, one of the country's most popular teams. Democrats and Republicans united to criticize the NBA for not defending Mr. Morey's right to free speech and for appearing to cave to Chinese economic pressure.

After realizing that the league's initial statement was insufficient, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was more forceful in defending American values. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), wrote a letter urging Mr. Silver to suspend the NBA's activities in China until Beijing normalized relations.

But in an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, Mr. Silver said that isolationism wasn't an option for the NBA, and that he felt the league had no choice but to pursue diplomacy in China.

"I hear some people saying that we should disengage from China, and I respectfully disagree," Mr. Silver said.

There have been signs of the NBA's standoff with China de-escalating in the last week. Chinese state-run television has continued its blackout and refused to air NBA games when the season began this week, but the Tencent Sports streaming platform has returned to broadcasting some games.

Not long after Mr. Pence's comments, Mr. Morey tweeted for the first time since releasing a statement about his pro-Hong Kong tweet. His tweets on Thursday were strictly about basketball: The Rockets begin their season on Thursday night.

Mr. Pence has previously waded into issues involving sports and political protest. In 2017, he left an Indianapolis Colts NFL game after players protested during the national anthem. Later, President Trump tweeted that he asked the vice president before the game to leave if players knelt.

Khadeeja Safdar contributed to this article.

Write to William Mauldin at william.mauldin@wsj.com and Ben Cohen at ben.cohen@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 24, 2019 17:06 ET (21:06 GMT)

Nike (NYSE:NKE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024

Nike (NYSE:NKE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024