firestorm, enflaming, A political firestorm ensued. The third rail ISSUE

Ban Gas Stoves? Just the Idea Gets Some in Washington Boiling.

The nation’s top consumer watchdog agency raised concerns about indoor air pollution from gas stoves. A political firestorm ensued.

4 MIN READ

Hong Kong Protests Put N.B.A. on Edge in China

After a Houston Rockets executive tweeted support for protesters, Chinese sponsors and the country’s main broadcaster moved to punish the team financially.

The owner of the Brooklyn Nets called the Hong Kong protests a “separatist movement,” enflaming controversy.

Enflame definition is - to excite to excessive or uncontrollable action or feeling; especially : to make angry. How to use enflame in a sentence.

蔡崇信： one of those third-rail issues, 就是踩到地雷了？

NBA老闆　蔡崇信一封信道出「莫雷挺港」風波原因

Brooklyn Nets owner, Alibaba co-founder Tsai decries Houston Rockets GM's Hong Kong tweet

Josh Horwitz

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Joseph Tsai, owner of the Brooklyn Nets and co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), said that the damage from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of Hong Kong’s protesters “will take a long time to repair.”



FILE PHOTO: Joseph Tsai, Executive Vice Chairman of Alibaba Group, speaks at the Wall Street Journal Digital Conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S., October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

His comments come as Chinese brands withdrew support for the NBA team and U.S. politicians and NBA fans voiced concern about the league’s commitment to freedom of speech.

In an open letter to “NBA fans” posted on his personal Facebook page, Tsai wrote that he felt the need to speak about the issue as someone who had spent his professional life in China.

“Supporting a separatist movement in a Chinese territory is one of those third-rail issues, not only for the Chinese government, but also for citizens of China,” he wrote.

“The one thing that is terribly misunderstood, and often ignored, by the western press and those critical of China, is that 1.4 billion Chinese citizens stand united when it comes to the territorial integrity of China and the country’s sovereignty over her homeland. This issue is non-negotiable,” he added.


Tsai went on to note the Opium Wars and Japan’s invasion of China as historical examples for why the Chinese psyche has “heavy baggage” toward threats to sovereignty.

“I don’t know Daryl personally. I am sure he’s a fine NBA general manager, and I will take at face value his subsequent apology that he was not as well informed as he should have been. But the hurt this incident has caused will take a long time to repair,” wrote Tsai.

Tsai was born in Taiwan, holds a Canadian passport and went to high school and university in the United States.

Tsai was a key dealmaker early in Alibaba’s rise as China’s largest e-commerce platform, and now serves as its executive vice chairman. He completed the purchase of a 49% stake in the Brooklyn Nets in 2018 and bought the remaining shares of the company last month.

Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



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An N.B.A. firestorm in China

First, a Houston Rockets official tweeted in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, inflaming officials and basketball fans in China. Then the N.B.A.’s apology enraged American fans.

The fracas spotlights the difficulties many businesses in China face. In this case, basketball has long been China’s most popular sport, with a huge base of fans and lucrative corporate deals that are growing each year.

American fans accused the league of hypocrisy for encouraging free speech on political matters in the U.S. but stifling it when its business interests were at stake. Joe Tsai, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets and a co-founder of Alibaba, wrote on Facebook that Hong Kong protests were a “third-rail” issue for the people of China, adding, “the hurt that this incident has caused will take a long time to repair.”

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支持中國領土的分離主義運動就是踩到地雷了，這不僅是對中國政府如此，對中國人民同樣是如此，
“Supporting a separatist movement in a Chinese territory is one of those third-rail issues, not only for the Chinese government, but also for citizens of China,” he wrote.

 *****

阿里巴巴集團執行副主席蔡崇信在今年9月以23.5億美元（約新台幣735億元）收購美國職籃NBA布魯克林籃網所有股權，成為NBA球團老闆。然而近期因休士頓火箭總管莫雷（Daryl Morey）「挺香港事件」持續發酵，蔡崇信也決定發表給NBA所有球迷的一封信。

蔡崇信的信件全文：

當我在9月購買布魯克林籃網的控制權時，我絕對不會想到我第一次和球迷的公開談話是剛剛才發生的事情，在政治上指控和造成誤解，為什麼數十億的中國球迷會有這樣的感受？

但是現在你已經聽到，中國的球迷對於休士頓火箭總管莫雷在推特上發布「爭取自由（FIGHT FOR FREEDOM）」和「支持香港（STAND WITH HONG KONG）」感到反感。火箭在這之前一直是中國最喜歡的球隊，但現在被驅逐了中國市場，球迷們不再喜歡這支球隊，轉播頻道拒絕播放火箭的比賽，中國贊助商也紛紛取消了贊助。

中國的球迷正在等待一個解釋，如果沒有從火箭球團得到解釋，那麼他們自然會要求聯盟相關人士來表達看法，NBA是一個以球迷為首的聯盟，當數以億計的球迷對一個問題感到憤怒時，聯盟和任何相關人士都不得不注意，作為一個30支球隊之一的老闆和一個在中國度過職業生涯大部分時間的中國人，我必須出來發聲。

人們自由發表觀點的問題是什麼？這是美國文化的自然價值，NBA同樣也有開放的價值觀，允許球員和其他人在平台上發表自己的看法，但問題是，那些特定的話題，在某些特定的國家、特定的社會和特定的族群就是地雷區。

支持中國領土的分離主義運動就是踩到地雷了，這不僅是對中國政府如此，對中國人民同樣是如此，西方的新聞媒體對於中國的批判經常誤解並且忽略，那就是在14億中國人、中國領土的完整和國家主權的問題上，這個問題是無法討價還價的。

一些歷史的觀點很重要，在19世紀中期，中國和英法爆發了2次鴉片戰爭，在清朝政府的戰敗下，被迫割讓香港成為英國殖民地。由於清朝政府軟弱無助，導致世界列強不斷地侵略中國領土，包括日本、俄羅斯、英國、法國、美國、德國、義大利和奧匈帝國的八國聯軍，打著干預人道主義的名義強佔中國領土，進入首都北京，打擊義和團並且在北京大肆掠奪。

在抗日戰爭期間，日本在1937年侵華佔領了北京、上海和當時的首都南京，日本開始在南京進行大屠殺，導致數十萬平民傷亡，在抗戰期間，幾千萬的中國人奉獻了自己的生命，一直到美國在珍珠港事件後才對日本開戰。

我回顧這一切，是因為學過歷史的人就會明白，中國人對任何試圖分裂中國領土的企圖，不論是來自國內還是國外，都有相當沉重的陰影，當出現分離主義運動時，因為過去的歷史，中國人民自然感覺到強烈的屈辱和憤怒。

現在我希望大家能夠理解，為什麼莫雷的推特對於我們中國球迷產生如此巨大的危害，我不認識莫雷，但我確定他是一個好的聯盟總管，我會接受他接下來的道歉，說他自己對問題了解度不夠，但是這樣的事情所造成的傷害卻需要花長時間才能夠修復。

我希望聯盟能夠從此事當中走出來，作為一支NBA球隊老闆，我會繼續在涉及中國的問題上表達看法，我也請我們的中國球迷保持信心，相信NBA和籃球絕對可以團結全世界所有人民的力量。

蔡崇信敬上

第三軌道政治，又被稱為第三軌道問題(Third Rail Issues)，或簡稱第三軌道(Third Rail)，是指政治上極具爭議的問題，不能碰。任何政治人物如觸碰這類問題，將不可避免地付出政治上的昂貴代價。在美國，這類問題包括社會安全系統的改革、批評以色列、槍枝管制，等等; 在加拿大，這類問題包括健保制度的改革；在台灣，類似於「第三軌道」的問題有如統獨問題。此短語源於鐵路上的第三軌，因其承載高電壓，如果不慎接觸，將觸電甚至喪命。故觸及第三軌道問題又有「政治自殺」之說。



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_rail_of_politics

The third rail of a nation's politics is a metaphor for any issue so controversial that it is "charged" and "untouchable" to the extent that any politician or public official who dares to broach the subject will invariably suffer politically. The metaphor comes from the high-voltage third rail in some electric railway systems.

A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, ...

firestorm翻譯：（有時指因飛機爆炸等引起的）風暴性大火。