Companies alone cannot hope to force social change
Recent saga of the NBA's run-in with Beijing keeps firms from making straightforward decisions.
Add BT as a preferred source
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
IT WAS a tough week for US companies doing business in China. Tiffany cancelled an ad campaign because the model had a hand over her right eye, prompting critics in China to complain it looked like she was supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
Blizzard Activision banned an e-sports player for one year for expressing support for Hong Kong - and also fired the announcers who interviewed the videogame champ. Apple banned pro-democracy singers from selling on Hong Kong iTunes.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) got into the worst trouble of all. After Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted - and quickly deleted - a message of support for Hong Kong, NBA commissioner Adam Silver issued contradictory statements defending the NBA's stance to Americans and apologising to the Chinese.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
TRENDING NOW
Air India asks Tata, Singapore Airlines for funds after US$2.4 billion loss
Beijing’s calculated silence on the Iran war
China pips the US if Asean is forced to choose, but analysts warn against reading it like a sports result
Richard Eu on how core values, customers keep Singapore’s TCM chain Eu Yan Sang relevant
