Call Taiwan A Country, Former NBA Star Howard Triggers Anger By Chinese Netizens

JAKARTA - Former National Basketball Association (NBA) starnar Howard sparked a wave of criticism on Chinese social media, for calling Taiwan a country in a promotional video with Taiwan's Vice President.

The video, released on Wednesday, shows the US basketball player supporting a campaign for a number of foreign tourists selected to stay at the Taiwan presidential office building.

"Hello everyone, I am Howardani, and since I came to Taiwan, I have received a completely new appreciation for this country," Howard said in the video.

China claims sovereignty over self-governing Taiwan, says the island is not a separate country, but part of the "One China" ruled by Beijing.

In addition, China also said it would never abandon the use of force, to enforce its claims.

China's insistence that Taiwan is not a country means the island is not included in many international organizations and its athletes compete in international tournaments under the banner of "Chinese Taipei".

It didn't take long to build a reaction after the video was released. The hashtag #HowardTaiwanindependence went viral on China's Weibo social media platform, resulting in nearly 400 million hits on Friday.

Many people accuse Howard of promoting Taiwanese independence, which is an evil thing for Beijing.

Howard last year joined Taoyuan Leopards, a professional Taiwanese team. The most famous player who has appeared in Taiwan's T1 League did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Vice President William Lai, one of the candidates in next year's Taiwan presidential election, appears with Howard, pretending to direct a video in which Lai calls Taiwan a "free country".

It is known, Taipei rejects China's claim to sovereignty and says only the Taiwanese can determine their future.

Although the NBA is very popular in China and this is not the first time people linked to the NBA have sparked controversy there.

In 2019, Chinese television station stopped broadcasting the Houston Rockets match, after general manager Total Morey posted a message on Twitter to support anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

Similar protests emerged in 2021, when Boston Celtics Player Enes Kanter criticized China's treatment of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims.