A regular Chinese has voiced out saying he does not understand why people got so worked up over Beijing and the NBA.

Chinese love NBA basketball

His anonymous commentary, titled "The NBA incident has the entire nation acting crazy", was shared widely on WeChat for it resonated with many other ordinary Chinese who felt that the NBA episode was blown out of proportion.

NBA basketball is wildly popular in China -- as many as 800 million Chinese watched the NBA games last season.

This is why the actual number of Chinese who would agree with the government directive of banning the games is perhaps just a minority.

Two days after it was first shared, the article was taken off WeChat by giant tech firm Tencent, according to new and commentary website SupChina.

Nevertheless, it can still be found on other online platforms such as Weibo and GitHub.

It was translated in full by SupChina.

Here are some key points the author raised:

1. Nothing wrong with Morey's remarks

The author thought that Morey's tweet of an anti-government slogan was not advocating for Hong Kong independence, nor supporting the breaking up of China.

"Even if he clearly says he supports the protesters, independence is not one of their five demands," he said.

The author then questioned why did Morey's remarks provoke such a strong reaction, saying that he thought the phenomenon was "quite puzzling".

He asked why the phrase "standing with Hong Kong" has invoked such anger from the Chinese, saying if it was because mainland Chinese already look at Hong Kong as an "enemy".

"If that's the case, then who really is the separatist?"

Furthermore, he pointed out that "freedom" is written into China's core socialist values.

And so, should a Chinese person in today's "open and progressive China" still be sensitive about the word, then they are "letting down all the martyrs" who had given "their lives to ensure the prosperity of [the] country" over the last hundred years, he said.

2. Asking Morey to resign is reasonable

The author said the reality in the world is that the higher a person's status, the less room he or she has to express one's opinion.

This is why he said it is "perfectly reasonable" for the Chinese to ask Morey to resign, as his words "represent himself".

But he said it is not logical to completely boycott a club or the NBA as a whole just because of Morey's words.

3. American society is agitated as they were told to control their speech by others

The author also attempted to help the Chinese understand why the NBA episode has "agitated American society", saying the incident is unsettling for the Americans as an American has been asked to apologise for "expressing support for freedom".

This, he said, cross a red line for the Americans.

"They might think: I can insult my own president in America without a problem, but if I say something else, you're going to try to control me?"

You can read the entire commentary in English here.

Background

The entire furore between China and the NBA was set off by a single tweet sent out by Houston Rockets' general manager Daryl Morey that included a pro-Hong Kong protesters slogan, which said, "Fight for freedom, Stand with Hong Kong".

While the tweet was deleted shortly, it was already too late to stop the backlash that ensued.

The NBA pre-season games were banned in China, and several Chinese firms pledged to cut their business ties with the NBA, despite the NBA releasing a strongly-worded Chinese statement apologising for Morey's tweet.

The state's censorship apparatus was also activated when it comes to social media posts that were deemed to be showing support for the NBA or the Rockets.

For instance, a man who declared his love for Pokémon’s Team Rocket, which has the same name in Chinese as the Houston Rockets, was forced by his employer to apologise for posting content that "negatively impacts society".

In addition to a picture of the Japanese cartoon's Team Rocket, the man had also included a screenshot of a news article about the NBA incident.

Furthermore, besides failing to placate Chinese fans and sponsors, the NBA faced criticisms back home as well for giving in way too much to Beijing's pressure.

Most recently, NBA commissioner Adam Silver did a reversal, saying they refuse to fire Morey at Beijing's request, which was something the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied ever saying.

Beijing winds down after unleashing its anger

While Wall Street Journal reported that the anti-Morey tweet storm appears to have been a Chinese state-coordinated campaign, Beijing later toned down their assertiveness in the matter just as trade talks with Washington started on Oct. 10, suggesting a greater need to alleviate trade tensions over keeping up the heat on the NBA.

Chinese nationalists who were holding up banners that said "Hong Kong belongs to China forever" were even prevented from unfurling them at a Lakers game in Shenzhen, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Not so straightforward

Perhaps this showed that the Chinese mainstream society's display of nationalism does not always align with the state's goals.

If nationalism in the country is not kept under control, it can go out of hand, and even challenge the party, especially if the party is seen as not being assertive enough in its foreign policy when it comes to protecting China’s interests.

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Top image via Radio France Internationale