Backlash in China after basketball star Dwight Howard calls Taiwan a country

American basketball star Dwight Howard, who moved to Taiwan last year to play in its professional league after 18 NBA seasons, has expressed regret after he received backlash in mainland China for starring in a government-backed video promoting Taiwan’s tourism business, in which he referred to the island as a “country” and appeared alongside its vice president, Lai Ching-te (賴清德 Lài Qīngdé).

Posted online on May 10, the two-minute video in question is a commercial for a campaign titled “Spend a night at Taiwan’s presidential office building,” which exclusively targets foreign visitors and encourages them to apply for the opportunity.

“Since I came to Taiwan, I’ve gained a whole new appreciation of this country,” the eight-time NBA All-Star said in the video. “This place makes me feel so much love and I experience so much hospitality, a friendly and great living environment with such diverse cultures.”

Lai, who has been nominated by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party as its candidate for the presidential election next year, is also featured in the video, where he said that the selected tourists could stay overnight free of charge in the Lixing Building, a two-story house adjacent to the century-old Office of the President in Taipei, with additional perks, including complimentary Taiwanese snacks and the possibility of meeting Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文 Cài Yīngwén) in person.

“This is crazy. I don’t even know if that’s legal in my country or not,” the 37-year-old basketball player said with amazement in the clip, to which Lai replied, “That’s why Taiwan is a free country.”

Taiwan is a self-governing island-state with its own democratically elected government, but Beijing considers it a renegade province under its jurisdiction, despite the two sides being ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949. Referring to Taiwan as a country is often offensive in mainland China, where matters of sovereignty and territory are passionate issues driven by a strong sense of nationalism.

The campaign Howard and Lai were part of was organized by the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC), which, according to its official website, is a non-governmental organization led by Tsai and dedicated to cultivating Taiwan’s cultural capabilities and outreach.

For Howard, who has a legion of fans in China, where he has been given the nickname “magical beast” (魔兽 móshòu) because of his large frame, the outrage over his Taiwan remarks was instant. According to Reuters, on Weibo, where he has over 1.6 million followers despite sporadic posting, the hashtag “Howard Taiwan independence” (#霍华德台独# huòhuádé táidú) has garnered nearly 400 million views as of Friday, with enraged internet users hurling insults at him and longtime fans expressing disappointment. Meanwhile, the original video has been heavily censored on the Chinese internet.

“It’s sad to see an athlete get used by politicians. Why would an active basketball player want to get involved in politics? I don’t see any benefits coming out of that,” a Weibo user wrote, while another one fumed, “We need an immediate ban on him entering mainland China or getting brand deals with Chinese companies!”

So far, Howard hasn’t formally responded to the backlash. But according to Taiwanese media reports, while visiting a local school for a charitable event on Friday, Howard told reporters that he “is not a politician and doesn’t want to get involved in political matters.”

“Where I’m from, if I say I want to go to a country, it doesn’t not mean that place is a country. It’s just how we talk,” he was quoted as telling the journalists, adding that he “has been to many places in China and respects Chinese people, while also respecting Taiwanese people.”

“Everybody lives on the same planet, in the same world, and I treat everybody equally,” he added, while stressing that there was a “misunderstanding” and apologizing for the confusion.

“You’ve let me down and you will never have my forgiveness,” one social media user wrote. Others called for a “real” apology, with one person commenting, “Taiwan has been a part of China since ancient times. It’s a fact. You need to say that word by word to show genuine remorse.”

After playing 18 seasons in the NBA and winning a championship alongside LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2020 season, Howard signed a $1 million-per-year deal last November to play for the Taoyuan Leopards, the largest contract in Taiwanese basketball history.

On TikTok, the former NBA star has been documenting his life in Taiwan with a great deal of enthusiasm. In one post, he responded to a TikTok user’s question about reuniting with Jeremy Lin, his old teammate from the NBA, in Taiwan, where the Chinese-American player is currently competing in the P. League+ for the Kaohsiung 17LIVE Steelers. “I’m proud of you Jeremy. Crazy to think I’d be watching your game in Taiwan,” Howard wrote.

In a more recent video, Howard recorded himself acting in a Taiwanese commercial with two local cheerleaders. The caption reads, “Don’t speak English to me if it’s about any negativity, hate, or slander. My TikTok is a space for positivity, inspiration, laughs, and smiles.”

Howard is far from the first foreign celebrity to incur the wrath of Chinese internet users when it comes to China’s claim over Taiwan and other matters of sovereignty and territory. In 2021, American action-movie actor and professional wrestler John Cena, who over the years has established himself as WWE’s unofficial China ambassador with his Mandarin fluency, had to apologize for calling Taiwan a “country” during a promotional interview for a Hollywood film.

The controversy is also the latest example of figures associated with the NBA stepping onto a political land mine in China, which is the league’s largest overseas market. In 2019, Daryl Morey, then the general manager of the Houston Rockets, drew ire from the Chinese government after expressing support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The controversy caused Beijing to ban NBA games from its public airwaves for nearly 18 months and prompted Morey’s resignation. In 2021, Boston Celtics games were pulled off the air in the country for about six months after its center Enes Kanter, a frequent human rights advocate, called Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 a “brutal dictator” and criticized his Tibet policies.