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Mike Pence Says Nike’s China Behavior Checks ‘Conscience at the Door’

Mike Pence Says Nike’s China Behavior Checks ‘Conscience at the Door’

(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Mike Pence slammed Nike Inc. for its approach to social justice when dealing with China, saying the company “willfully ignores the abuse of human rights.”

“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,” Pence said in a fiery speech on China Thursday in Washington.

Mike Pence Says Nike’s China Behavior Checks ‘Conscience at the Door’

The vice president said Nike removed Houston Rockets merchandise from shelves to join the Chinese government in protesting a tweet from the Rockets general manager about Hong Kong.

He also faulted some of the National Basketball Association’s biggest stars and owners, saying they regularly speak out against the U.S. but stay silent when it comes to rights of those in other countries.

Mike Pence Says Nike’s China Behavior Checks ‘Conscience at the Door’

“In siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of the authoritarian regime,” Pence said.

The remarks add fuel to a nearly three-week-old firestorm surrounding the NBA and its partners, triggered by the Rockets’ Daryl Morey tweeting support for Hong Kong protesters. He soon deleted the message, but China took umbrage and the NBA’s sponsors in the country cut ties with the league.

Some of the NBA’s biggest stars, including LeBron James, have been chastised for appearing to take China’s side in the controversy. But the league itself has stuck up for Morey. Commissioner Adam Silver said last week that he spurned Chinese demands that the general manager be fired.

“We said there’s no chance that’s happening -- there’s no chance we’ll even discipline him,” Silver said at a conference in New York.

Silver also said the backlash in China led to “substantial” losses for the league. “The financial consequences may go on and be fairly dramatic,” he said.

The NBA is the most popular U.S. league in China -- with some 800 million local viewers -- and its business there is already a billion-dollar enterprise.

For Nike -- the world’s largest athletic brand -- the scrutiny comes at a time of transition. Longtime Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker said this week that he’s stepping down in January and handing the reins to former EBay Inc. head John Donahoe. The announcement jarred investors, sending the shares down 3.4% on Wednesday.

To contact the reporters on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net;Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Nick Turner, Rob Golum

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