Por isabel van use*
The NBA Turkish player Enes Kanter, An open critic of the Government of Türkiye, He has criticized the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping about the repression of the regime in the Tibet.
“I am here to add my voice and talk about what is happening in the Tibet under the brutal government of the Chinese government. The basic rights of the Tibetan people are non -existent ”, said the center of the Boston Celtics, Kanter, In a video clip of almost three minutes published in their personal social media accounts on Wednesday.
Kanter, of 29 years, To whom the administration of President Rece Tayyip Erdogan forbade him to travel to Türkiye, He denounced President XI as a “brutal dictator” In your video, criticizing the treatment of the PCCH to the Tibetan people.
With a black shirt adorned with an image of the Dalai Lama, Kanter told the spectators that he could no longer «remain silent» On the political repression of the PCCH against the Tibet and its culture.
«¡The Tibet belongs to the Tibetan people!» Kanter wrote on a Twitter post.
The PCCH forcibly assumed the political control of Tibet in 1951 After promising the right to exercise autonomy to the region. However, Over the years, the regime has continued to intensify its control over the local population, forcing monks and nuns to resume secular life and promoting Mandarin Chinese over the Tibetan language.
In August, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang told Tibetans to accept party leadership, claiming that it was the only way for Tibet to prosper.
The Tibetan government in exile, formally known as the Central Tibetan Administration, published a document titled «Tibet: 70 years of occupation and oppression» he 30 September.
“The CCP celebrated with much fanfare the so-called 70 years of liberation’ from Tibet, which in fact are 70 years of CCP occupation and heinous atrocities that China perpetrated in Tibet”, the document says. «For the Tibetans, there was nothing to celebrate the occasion, which was a painful reminder of the years leading up to the CCP's gruesome invasion of Tibet».
“The basic rights and freedoms of the Tibetan people are non-existent. They are not allowed to study and learn their language and culture freely. They are not allowed to travel freely. They are not allowed to access information freely. “The Tibetan people are not even allowed to worship freely”, Kanter said..
Chinese technology giant Tencent, starting Thursday, pulled all live streams of upcoming Celtics games just hours after Kanter video was posted.
The Epoch Times has contacted the NBA and Tencent for comment..
His video also sparked a wave of support and anger from social media users.. Chinese-Australian cartoonist and political refugee Badiucao took to Twitter to thank Kanter for speaking out against the Chinese regime's human rights abuses in Tibet.
However, on China's government-controlled social media platforms such as Weibo, There were a lot of angry comments., some Chinese called for him to be fired, while others issued death threats. Similar comments were also posted by users on Kanter's Instagram and Twitter accounts..
Weibo, one of the largest social media platforms in China, banned users from searching on Thursday morning «Kanter» on your platform.
Kanter's public criticism of the Chinese regime came a day after meeting with members of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) and the Tibetan Community Center in Queens, New York, during which he heard from Tibetan human rights defenders, including Nyima Lhamo, a recent fugitive and niece of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a well-known Tibetan political prisoner who died while in Chinese custody in 2015.
It also comes amid concerns over NBA players' sponsorship deals with Chinese sportswear companies that are linked to forced labor in the Xinjiang region..
Brian Leung, executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, Washington-based nonprofit praised Kanter for speaking out against the CCP.
«Ask for @EnesKanter who speaks out against human rights abuses in China and shows solidarity with the Tibetan people. "Celebrities in America's entertainment industries must not remain silent to please China's government and its consumer market.", wrote on Twitter.
The Tibetan-American Pema Doma, SFT campaign director, described Kanter's statement of support for Tibetan freedom as «incredibly moving».
“I hope that Enes Kanter's outstanding stand and statement of support for a free Tibet encourages other athletes to find their courage and speak out against China's terrible record of repression., including the Uyghur genocide, the crushing of democracy and rights in Hong Kong and the persecution of the Chinese. rights defenders”, Doma added in a statement.
Eva Fu contributed to this report.
* Isabel van Brugen is an award-winning journalist and currently a news reporter at The Epoch Times. He has a master's degree in newspaper journalism from the City, University of London.
