NBA: Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai sides with China in Houston Rockets debacle, says hurt caused will take time to heal

Nets owner Joseph Tsai, who made a fortune with Alibaba after co-founding the e-commerce titan and remains its executive vice president, said in a Facebook post that Morey’s tweet was intolerable to the Chinese government and citizens New York: Freedom of expression does not extend to issues China deems untouchable, the Taiwanese-Canadian owner of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets said Monday as he weighed in on the Houston Rockets pro-democracy tweet crisis. Nets owner Joseph Tsai, who made a fortune with Alibaba after co-founding the e-commerce titan and remains its executive vice president, said in a Facebook post that Morey’s tweet was intolerable to the Chinese government and citizens. While acknowledging the tradition of free speech in the United States, Tsai wrote: “The problem is, there are certain topics that are third-rail issues in certain countries, societies and communities.” “Supporting a separatist movement in a Chinese territory is one of those third-rail issues, not only for the Chinese government, but also for all citizens in China.” “Third-rail” is used to describe an issue considered so politically controversial that it is untouchable. Tsai, whose Nets play exhibition games against the Los Angeles Lakers in Shanghai on Thursday and in Shenzhen two days later, said “the Chinese psyche has heavy baggage” when it comes to any territorial threat.