China's professional basketball league and a news outlet stated Friday that ex-NBA player Jeremy Lin, who now plays for a Chinese franchise, was fined 10,000 yuan ($1,400) for inappropriate remarks on quarantine facilities, as the administration of President Xi Jinping attempts to quell demonstrations over the world's harshest COVID-19 restrictions.
The China Basketball Association reported on Wednesday that Loong Lions Basketball Club player Lin made negative comments regarding quarantine hotel-related amenities when the team was staying there before a game.
What Did Jeremy Lin Say?
The league said Jeremy Lin's remarks "caused adverse effects" on the competition environment of the Chinese basketball organization, per AP News.
Lin's statements were not elaborated upon by China Basketball association, and they were not visible on his Sina Weibo profile. According to the Shanghai news source The Paper, Jeremy Lin released a video before games the next week in Zhuji, a city south of Shanghai in the Zhejiang province, complaining about the hotel's gym facilities.
The report indicated that Jeremy Lin remarked: "Can you believe this is a weight room?"What kind of garbage is this?" The Paper stated the footage was erased when the issue was "clarified" that the team will not stay in the hotel for a long period.
Vision China Entertainment, which represents Lin according to its website, did not reply to a request for comment. The Guangzhou, South China, headquarters of the Loong Lions organization didn't return the calls of AP News.
Jeremy Lin was the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese ethnicity to play in the NBA. He was born in California to parents who were originally from Taiwan.
Due to Jeremy Lin's string of incredible performances while playing for the New York Knicks in the 2011-12 NBA season, Linsanity became a huge cultural phenomenon, according to ABC.
On the 2019 Toronto Raptors, he made history by becoming the league's first Asian American NBA champion. Before signing the Loong Lions, he played two seasons with the Beijing Ducks.
No Further Anti 'zero COVID' Protests Reported in China
According to a report from the New York Post, Following demonstrations this weekend in Shanghai and other cities, with some demonstrators demanded the resignation of President Xi Jinping, several cities on Friday also loosened restrictions, enabling malls, supermarkets, and other companies to reopen.
Supermarkets and other enterprises in Urumqi, in the northwest, where a tragic fire intensified the demonstrations, have reopened.
As a result of its "zero COVID" approach, which has isolated millions of people, the governing Communist Party is attempting to silence criticism of the human cost and disruption caused by this policy. Images and videos of the protests have been removed from Chinese social media, and participants have been imprisoned.
To stop any more unrest, police dispersed around Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities. No further demonstrations emerged on Friday. In the previous 24 hours, the authorities recorded 34,980 new infections, including 30,702 cases with no symptoms.
Despite China's relatively low caseload, the country has implemented a policy called "zero-COVID" that seeks to quarantine all known carriers. Because of this, authorities have blocked off whole neighborhoods and shut down all public buildings.
"Closed-loop" supervision is employed by manufacturers such as the largest iPhone manufacturing site in central China, and it demands workers to dwell on-site.
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