Former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Dwight Howard yesterday said he has no intention to hurt anyone nor does he want to be involved in political issues.
Howard — who last year joined the Taoyuan Leopards in Taiwan’s professional T1 League — made the remarks in response to media queries after he called Taiwan a country in a promotional video alongside Vice President William Lai (賴清德).
The video, which was released on Wednesday, showed the US basketball player promoting an event to allow foreign visitors to spend a night in the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of Dongao Elementary School
“Hello everyone, I’m Dwight Howard, and since I have come to Taiwan I have gained a whole new appreciation of this country,” Howard said in the video.
However, there was criticism online following the release of the video.
The hashtag HowardTaiwanindependence trended on social media in China, with almost 400 million instances logged by yesterday.
Many of the posts accused Howard of promoting Taiwanese independence.
“I apologize,” Howard said, adding that it was “not my intention to hurt anyone.”
Howard said that he has used the word “country” synonymously with “place,” and that his use of the word did not necessarily imply that Taiwan is a country in the normal definition of the word.
Howard added that he is not a politician and does not want to be involved in political issues.
He said he has “freedom of speech,” and emphasized that he “did not want to hurt anyone” with his expressions.
Howard said he has traveled all across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Inner Mongolia, and that he respects “Chinese people” and “Taiwanese people.”
“I treat everyone equally and respect everyone, and I will continue to uphold this approach in the future,” he said.
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