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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen thanked NBA player Enes Kanter in a video posted on Twitter (Nov. 13), in response to his message of support for "Taiwan's freedom and democracy".

Thank you @EnesKanter for standing with #Taiwan & standing up for democracy. pic.twitter.com/DNBJfMiSvl

— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) November 13, 2021

Tsai thanked the Boston Celtics centre for “standing with Taiwan” and said that Taiwan will "always defend our hard-earned freedom and democracy".

She said that the support from Kanter and other international friends "gives (Taiwan) strength".

Kanter: "I can’t wait to come visit your beautiful country"

In response, Kanter thanked Tsai for her "kind words" and said that he cannot wait to visit the "beautiful country" to learn about its culture, taste its delicious food and meet the "brave people" there.

What an honor!

Thank you to the president of Taiwan @iingwen for your kind words.

I can’t wait to come visit your beautiful country, learn about Taiwanese culture, taste some of your delicious food, and meet the brave people of Taiwan.

We are stronger when we stand together.🇹🇼 pic.twitter.com/qFCJMHmkYT

— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) November 13, 2021

This comes shortly after Australia’s defence minister Peter Dutton said in an interview with The Australian on Nov. 12 that it was “inconceivable” that Australia will not support the United States if it chooses to defend Taiwan, in the event of war between China and the self-ruled island.

Nevertheless, Dutton was cautious in making this remark, saying, "I think we should be very frank and honest about that, look at all of the facts and circumstances without pre-committing, and maybe there are circumstances where we wouldn't take up that option, (but) I can't conceive of those circumstances."

Background

The People’s Republic of China views self-governing Taiwan as its territory.

Taiwan, which has its own elected government, has maintained that it is already independent.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has not ruled out the possible use of force against Taiwan.

In 2019, NBA apologised to China after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s pro-Hong Kong tweet, calling it "regrettable".

Morey's tweet included a pro-Hong Kong protesters slogan, which said, "Fight for freedom, Stand with Hong Kong".

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.

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Top image via Enes Kanter/Twitter and Tsai Ing-wen/FB.