BEIJING — Former NBA star Jeremy Lin, who plays for a Chinese team, was fined 10,000 yuan ($1,400) for “inappropriate remarks” on social media about quarantine facilities ahead of a match, the Chinese professional league announced on Friday, as the government attempts to halt protests against some of the world’s toughest virus controls.
Also on Friday, more cities eased restrictions, allowing malls, supermarkets and other businesses to reopen after protests last weekend in Shanghai and other areas where some crowds called on President Xi Jinping to step down. Urumqi in the northwest, the site of a deadly fire that sparked the protests, has announced the reopening of supermarkets and other businesses.
Lin, who plays for Loong Lions Basketball Club, made “inappropriate remarks about facilities related to quarantine hotels” where the team stayed ahead of a game on Wednesday, the China Basketball Association said. He said “it caused adverse effects on the league and the competition area”.
The ruling Communist Party is trying to crush criticism of the human cost and disruption of its “zero-COVID” strategy, which has confined millions to their homes. Protesters have been arrested and photos and videos of events removed from Chinese social media. Police deployed in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities to try to prevent further protests.
The ABC gave no details of Lin’s comments and there was no sign of it on his account on the popular Sina Weibo platform.
Shanghai newspaper The Paper reported that Lin posted a video complaining about training facilities at hotels in Zhuji town, south of Shanghai in Zhejiang province, ahead of next week’s games.
“Can you believe this is a weight room?” Lin was quoted as saying. “What kind of garbage is this?” The newspaper said the video was deleted after “the situation was clarified” that the hotel was only for a brief stay required by regulations.
A representative for Vision China Entertainment, which says on its website that it represents Lin, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Phone calls to the Loong Lions Basketball Club headquarters in the southern city of Guangzhou went unanswered.
Lin, born in California to Taiwanese parents, was the first NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.
He played for the California Golden State Warriors in 2010 before joining the New York Knicks in the 2011-12 season. He became the first Asian American to win an NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He played for the Beijing Ducks in 2019 before joining the Loong Lions.
On Friday, there were no signs of further protests.
The government has reported 34,980 infections found in the past 24 hours, including 30,702 without symptoms.
The number of cases in China is low, but “zero-COVID” aims to isolate each infected person. This has led local authorities to suspend access to neighborhoods and close schools, shops and offices. Manufacturers, including central China’s largest iPhone factory, use “closed-loop” management, which requires employees to live in their workplaces without outside contact.
Protests erupted on November 25 after a fire in an apartment building in Urumqi killed at least 10 people.
It sparked angry questions online about whether firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other virus checks. Authorities have denied this, but the deaths have become a hotbed of public frustration.
Xi’s government has promised to reduce the cost and disruption of controls, but says it will stick to “zero-COVID”. Health experts and economists expect it to remain in place until at least mid-2023 and possibly well into 2024, while millions of older people are vaccinated in preparation for lifting of controls that prevent most visitors from China.
Urumqi will “further intensify efforts to resume production and trade” by reopening hotels, restaurants, large supermarkets and ski resorts, the official Guangming Daily reported on its website, citing committee member Sui Rong. municipal.
Elsewhere, the northern city of Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia region has restarted bus service and allowed restaurants and small businesses to reopen, according to state media. Jinzhou in the northeast lifted movement restrictions and allowed businesses to reopen.
On Thursday, the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, the biggest hotspot of the latest infection spike, allowed supermarkets and restaurants to reopen.
Other major cities, including Shijiazhuang in the north and Chengdu in the southwest, have restarted bus and subway service and allowed businesses to reopen.
