Dwight Howard was having a great time in Taiwan, so he took part in a short video with the local Republic’s Vice President, William Lai, in which the kingpin explains how well received he was on the island.
“Since coming to Taiwan, I have gained a whole new appreciation for this country. This place makes me feel so much love” he explained in this sequence, published on Wednesday. The problem is that China is very sensitive on the subject of Taiwan, which it considers to be one of its provinces, and the simple fact of talking about it as a country triggers the anger of commentators on the social network. Weibo, the local equivalent of Twitter.
Faced with criticism, Dwight Howard pleaded ” the language barrier “ for his use of the term “country.” »
“Where I’m from, if I say I want to go to the country, that doesn’t mean that place is a country. It’s just the way we talk”, he explained. “If I offended anyone in China, I apologize. I did not intend to hurt anyone with what I said in this advertisement”.
The memory of the Daryl Morey affair
The former pivot of the Magic and the Lakers especially wants to avoid a Daryl Morey situation. “I am not a politician. I have the greatest respect for the Chinese people and the greatest respect for the Taiwanese people, and I never intended to disrespect anyone. »
It must be said, in defense of Dwight Howard, that diplomacy vis-à-vis Taiwan has been an extremely sensitive subject for a very long time, with most countries not granting country status to the island, under pressure from China, while still maintaining diplomatic relations with the independent local government…
