China’s newest weapon against Hong Kong?

Even by China’s heavily nationalistic standards, the reaction to a tweet this week has been extreme.

Basketball authorities and sponsors cutting ties.

State TV cancelling broadcasts.

A ‘meet the fans’ night with visiting NBA stars scuttled at short notice, much to the disappointment of fans.

Even a young social media user being forced by his employer to write a public apology letter for a post about a cartoon called the Rocket Squad.

The uproar over a tweet supporting the Hong Kong protestors from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is the sharpest sign yet that in China’s ‘New Era’ — as President Xi Jinping calls it — foreigners are expected to submit to its censorship rules if they want to do business.

In recent years, grovelling apologies have become the norm.

Full Story: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-10/beijing-uses-outrage-culture-online-against-nba/11587534

China takes over from Taiwan to fund Solomon Islands Pacific Games’ stadium

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare says China will step in to fund a $AUD74 million stadium for the 2023 Pacific Games, in place of Taiwan.

He announced the funding on his return from China, a month after Solomon Islands ended diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Prime Minister Sogavare said the financing would be in the form of a grant.

“It’s the implementation of commitments of the understandings that we’ve signed with them,” Mr Sogavare said, in reference to five Memorandums of Understanding that he signed during his trip to China last week.

The Pacific Games is the largest sporting event in the region, with Solomon Islands to host it for the first time in 2023.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au

Chinese Swimming superstar Sun Yang has been called a drug cheat…

Everyone will be watching the man Horton beat at the Olympics — defending world champion Sun Yang from China, a man widely considered the greatest freestyle swimmer of all time.

In the West, much has been written about Sun and the hammer that was used to smash a vial of his blood, preventing drug testers taking it for analysis last September.

Sun and Horton’s war of words:

Full story: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-21/sun-yang-doping-case-more-complicated-than-it-seems/11328364

China; Half-Marathon embroiled in cheating scandal, more than 250 bans handed down

More than 250 runners have been caught cheating during the Shenzhen Half-Marathon in China, with organisers handing out hundreds of bans after last weekend’s race.

The majority of the bans were for runners taking shortcuts — 237 people were caught on traffic cameras cutting through bushes — while several other runners were found to be wearing fake bibs.

Organisers said those who took the shortcut would have run up to three kilometres less than the full 21.1km distance.

“We deeply regret the violations that occurred during the event,” Chinese news outlet Xinhua quoted organisers as saying.

“Marathon running is not simply exercise, it is a metaphor for life, and every runner is responsible for him or herself.”

Read Full Story here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-30/more-than-250-runners-caught-cheating-in-shenzhen-half-marathon/10569898