Companies alone cannot hope to force social change

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.