Shen Xianzhi

568235227@qq.com

HOUSTON Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has recently posted a tweet showing his support for the protests in Hong Kong, a tweet that CNN says has “snowballed into the NBA’s worst nightmare.” Chinese State broadcaster CCTV said it would not air two NBA preseason games played in the country. CCTV is also reviewing all its cooperation and exchanges involving the NBA, it said in a statement on an official CCTV Sports’ social media account. Tencent joined CCTV in suspending its livestreaming of the two NBA games. By Oct. 10, all 11 of the NBA’s official Chinese partners have suspended ties with the league, according to news reports.

Given that China is the NBA’s biggest overseas market, contributing about 10 percent or US$200 million to the league’s net profit and expected to contribute 20 percent of profit by 2030, Morey’s blunder will produce huge economic consequences, which NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said “We have to live with.”

A lot has been said about Morey’s blunder among Chinese netizens. Arrogance, stupidity and mental disorder are the words used to depict Morey’s behavior. Here, I write about it from another perspective: ignorance of intercultural communication among many Americans.

It is interesting to note that the subject of intercultural communication was a product of American scholars. American anthropologist Ruth Benedict’s “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,” an exhaustive and thought-provoking book on Japanese culture that has helped the United States maintain a peaceful and successful domination over Japan in the post-WWII era, is considered a pioneering work in the field of intercultural communication, and Edward Hall’s “The Silent Language” won him the position of founder of that discipline.

Hall in his book has already lamented the ignorance of Americans sent to work in Europe. He said, “I remain convinced that much of our difficulty with people in other countries stems from the fact that so little is known about cross-cultural communication.”

Unfortunately more than a half-century has passed, and Hall’s observation about Americans remains poignant. Morey and the like are still not learning the lessons that successful intercultural communication is a matter of highest importance if they would like to see their interests well served.

Considering he has high stakes in China, in this digital age Morey should have understood Chinese culture better and at least the bottom lines of China’s national interests, which has been reiterated publicly thousands of times. When he clicked and sent the words “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong,” is he mindful of the consequences resulting from his ignorance?

Worse, Morey and others like him take it for granted that whatever pops into their head should be shared without giving it a second thought, as he said in his tweet that he did not intend to cause any offense. “I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event,” he tweeted.

Outspokenness and forthrightness should not be an excuse for Morey’s blunder. Silver tried to find his cozy niche by saying he is supportive of Morey exercising “his freedom of speech,” which he said is a defining element of NBA values. But isn’t Silver clear that safeguarding national sovereignty and social stability is a bedrock principle of China, and of any other country?

As CCTV’s statement has said about Silver’s claim, “We believe that any remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech.” Joe Tsai, Alibaba’s executive vice chairman and owner of the Brooklyn Nets NBA franchise, said, “Chinese citizens stand united when it comes to the territorial integrity of China and the country’s sovereignty over her homeland. This issue is non-negotiable.”

Sorrowfully, the NBA is just an addition to a long list of international brands and figures that have been victimized by their own ignorance of intercultural communication. Apple, Twitter, Google, Chanel, Marriott and Prada are just a few others.

As Hall says in his book, “For their own comfort and to insure their effectiveness, Americans should be taught to speak and read the language of the country they are sent to, and thoroughly informed about the culture.” As the world has entered the era of information, and become more interconnected and interdependent, any foreign public figure, either at home or abroad, should learn to read the silent language of the target country and be well informed about the target culture. Ignorance will definitely lead to huge, undesirable consequences.