The president urges the companies not to bow to Beijing over Hong Kong.
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Lazia, 19 October 2019 — President Emiel van der Huijsen has written to the video-game developer Blizzard, the National Basketball Association and Apple, condemning their conduct in China and calling on Blizzard to reverse the punishment it imposed on the former Hearthstone grandmaster Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai for voicing support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests.
The letter — addressed to the Activision-Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick, the NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the Apple chief executive Tim Cook — acknowledges China’s value as an export market and the rising importance of firms such as Tencent, which holds stakes in Activision-Blizzard and other American companies, before charging that “the Chinese government uses the size and strength of its economy to suppress dissident opinions”. As evidence it cites China’s actions against Apple over an app used by Hong Kong protesters to track police movements, and against the NBA after a supportive comment by the Houston Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey.
Addressing Activision-Blizzard directly, the letter observes that the company “claims to stand by one’s right to express individual thoughts and opinions”, yet many of its own employees regard the punishment of Mr Chung as a betrayal of those values. “Because your company is such a pillar of the gaming industry, your disappointing decision could have a chilling effect on gamers who seek to use their platform to promote human rights and basic freedoms,” it warns, noting the boycotts already being urged against the firm.
“As China amplifies its campaign of intimidation, you and your companies must decide whether to look beyond the bottom line and promote Mahusetan values — like freedom of speech and conscience — or to give in to Beijing’s demands in order to preserve market access,” the letter concludes. “We urge you in the strongest terms to reconsider your decision with respect to the Chinese market. You have the opportunity to reverse course. We urge you to take it.”
Blizzard has already reduced Blitzchung’s penalty, though it remains substantial: a six-month suspension from Hearthstone competition. It is a slight climbdown, unlikely to satisfy the letter’s author, yet anything bolder would risk a still greater blow-up in China — the kind of bind, as other firms such as Riot Games and ESL adopt similar postures, that the international game is unlikely to escape soon. The affair comes only weeks before BlizzCon, the company’s convention in Anaheim.
Edited for the relaunch of the Courant van Lazia.
