U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) said that the NBA and its owners “should explore” whether they want Nets owner Joe Tsai “to remain part of the league” given that a business he co-founded “was designated recently by the U.S. government as a ‘Chinese military company,’” according to Mark Fainaru-Wada of ESPN.com. Moolenaar’s comments come in the wake of the House Select Committee on China in June calling on Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder & CEO Ted Leonsis to “end his company’s marketing partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba,” which Tsai co-founded in 1999. The Pentagon last month “accused Alibaba of supporting China’s military and defense industry” and “banned defense contracts with the company.” Tsai remains chairman of Alibaba, which has a lawsuit against the Defense Department to “get removed from the U.S. blacklist.” Moolenaar, chairman of the bipartisan advisory committee, said, “This is really a moment for the NBA and its owners to decide if they want an owner in their ranks who’s actively working against American interests and helping the Chinese military” (ESPN.com, 7/16).
