Wall Street Journal
Now, a Chinese basketball team has called off games with the Philippines, the Agence France-Presse reports. The Shanghai Sharks—the team partially owned by native son and basketball star Yao Ming—had been slated this month to play two games in Manila, but the team’s vice general manager has asked for an indefinite postponement of the games, an official with the Philippine Sports Commission told the AFP.
The games were organized last year by both governments as a way to promote friendly sport exchanges between the two nations. However since April, China and the Philippines have been embroiled in an ugly maritime standoff in the South China Sea over a collection of rocks, reefs and islands called the Scarborough Shoal. Both countries claim the shoal, known as Huangyan Island in Chinese, as their territory.
Warning signs have been percolating for some time that the fate of the so-called “goodwill” games might be on the rocks. Earlier last month, a Sharks spokesman said it was unclear whether the team would be able to play. “It’s not about our decision right now,” he told Chinese state media.
The Sharks told Philippines sports officials the players’ passports weren’t ready and therefore they couldn’t participate. A Philippines official said the commission was “surprised” by this, given that the players had plenty of time to prepare their papers, says AFP.
Sigh... more lies. They were able to give Chen Guangcheng a passport in a few days, even sending someone to take his photo in the hospital. I guess anything is possible when you want an embarrassing situation swept under the rug.
This whole "dispute" is lame. Looking at a map, it's obvious that China is bullying their way into claiming someone else's territory; Scarborough Shoals is within 200 miles of the Philippines, which should be part of their EEZ.
There are some tiny uninhabited islands off the coast of Fujian. Maybe Philippines should go claim them as its territory. Stupid.
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