Cowering Before Chinese Authoritarianism

Michael Brendan Dougherty has a very good piece on Chinese authoritarianism and its influence in the U.S. His piece deals specifically with the NBA’s recent cowering before Chinese authorities regarding freedom of speech and Hong Kong.

Here’ the last paragraph of his article:

This event is starkly clarifying. And it should give conservatives and progressives pause, because China’s model of imposing Xi Jinping thought is a direct and equal threat to us. If Chinese authoritarianism is able to spread into American life through corporate power, because corporations are set up to serve shareholders and have trouble thinking ethically beyond that, then perhaps it is the duty of the state to interrupt the exchange mechanism through which this corruption proceeds. If China is forcing American corporations to impose Xi Jinping thought, maybe it’s time to choose. No more basketball camps in the shadow of concentration camps. No more enrichment of Chinese culture, if the price is our freedom and our integrity. To hell with Chairman Xi, and to hell with every business venture that makes others too afraid to say likewise.

You can read it here.