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| In a video posted to Twitter, Kanter expressed support for the Free Tibet movement. (Photo by=Reuters) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Boston Celtics basketball player Enes Kanter is under fire in China after calling President Xi Jinping a "brutal dictator". BBC Sports reported that in a video posted to Twitter, he also expressed support for the Free Tibet movement.
His name has since been blocked from Chinese social media site Weibo, and the streaming of Celtics games has reportedly been canceled. China's foreign ministry has accused Kanter of "trying to get attention".It comes two years after tweets from then Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey prompted China's broadcaster to cease showing NBA games."My message for the Chinese government is free Tibet," Kanter told his followers. "Tibet belongs to Tibetans." China has long been accused of suppressing cultural and religious freedom in Tibet, a remote and mainly Buddhist region. The government denies the accusations and says Tibet has developed considerably under its rule.
Future Celtics matches are not listed as available for live broadcast on the Chinese streaming app Tencent. On the Celtics' official page, some fans called for him to be removed from the team while others urged an apology. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Kanter's remarks "were not worth refuting". Kanter, who is known for his activism, has had his Turkish passport removed by the country's government over his remarks about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
