Thursday, October 24, 2019
By Gary Bauer
Vice President Mike Pence delivered a blistering speech today taking on communist China, the NBA and corporate America. The vice president must be feeling inspired by the Washington Nationals because he hit it out of the park!
His remarks today were among the toughest yet from the Trump Administration. Here are some excerpts of Pence's powerful address:
"Past administrations have come and gone, and all were aware of [China's] abuses. None were willing to upset the established Washington interests who not only permitted these abuses, but often profited from them. . .
"[S]ome multinational corporations say our economic policies are too tough and that advancing our interests and our values runs contrary to better relations with China. Needless to say, we see it very differently. . .
"Today, China is not only exporting hundreds of billions of dollars in unfairly traded goods to the United States, but lately China has also been trying to export censorship — the hallmark of its regime.
"By exploiting corporate greed, Beijing is attempting to influence American public opinion, coercing corporate America. And far too many American multinational corporations have kowtowed to the lure of China's money and markets by muzzling not only criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, but even affirmative expressions of American values.
"Nike promotes itself as a so called 'social justice champion,' but when it comes to Hong Kong, it prefers checking its social conscience at the door. Nike stores in China actually removed their Houston Rockets merchandise from their shelves to join the Chinese government in protest against the Rockets general manager's seven-word tweet, which read: 'Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.'
"And some of the NBA's biggest players and owners, who routinely exercise their freedom to criticize this country, lose their voices when it comes to the freedom and rights of the people of China. In siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of the authoritarian regime.
"A progressive corporate culture that willfully ignores the abuse of human rights is not progressive; it is repressive. When American corporations, professional sports, pro athletes embrace censorship, it's not just wrong; it's un-American. American corporations should stand up for American values here at home and around the world."
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