{"id":38891,"date":"2024-02-14T12:53:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T12:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/?p=38891"},"modified":"2024-02-20T21:11:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T21:11:30","slug":"us-open-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/?p=38891","title":{"rendered":"Messi sits out game in Hong Kong, triggers China\u2019s ideological paranoia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Messi’s mess in Hong Kong<\/a><\/p>\n

Soccer star Lionel Messi sits out game in Hong Kong, triggers China\u2019s ideological paranoia, 2024.2.14<\/a><\/p>\n

The recent furor surrounding Lionel Messi\u2018s absence from a soccer game in Hong Kong provides a striking illustration of China\u2019s deep-seated ideological paranoia and a tendency toward political schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

At the heart of this controversy lies the Chinese Communist Party\u2018s profound suspicion of the international community, rooted in a belief of a pervasive and coordinated conspiracy aimed at undermining the communist government. This mindset propels the Communist Party to interpret even the most minor incidents as evidence of a grand scheme against it, often leading to exaggerated and absurd reactions that serve to justify its paranoid worldview \u2014 and its aggression and belligerence.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 4, the Argentine-born international soccer star Lionel Messi was in Hong Kong with his team, Inter Miami, for a match with a Hong Kong team. Mr. Messi, however, stayed on the substitute bench throughout the game due to what the visiting team\u2019s doctor described as an injury. The disappointed Hong Kong fans discovered that Mr. Messi nevertheless played for 30 minutes in a soccer match in Tokyo a short while later.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, this minor sports incident involving Mr. Messi has been seized upon by the Chinese government\u2019s extensive propaganda machine as a symbol of an alleged vast international conspiracy. Mr. Messi\u2018s decision not to play in Hong Kong has been construed as a move orchestrated by myriad forces, each with its own historical and ideological significance to China.<\/p>\n

First, the reaction to Mr. Messi\u2018s absence cannot be disentangled from the Chinese leaders\u2019 profound loathing of the recent political developments in Argentina. Argentina\u2019s shift from a long-standing alignment with left-wing political forces toward the free-market stance championed by the newly elected president, Javier Milei, has been a source of contention for the Chinese government.<\/p>\n

Mr. Milei\u2019s explicit rejection of socialism and his opposition to Argentina joining the BRICS pact, a coalition seen as an alternative to Western economic dominance and which China aims to lead, represents a direct challenge to China\u2018s influence. Mr. Messi, as a global icon of Argentine identity, has thus become an unwitting participant in this ideological battle, with his not playing in Hong Kong interpreted as a deliberate act of defiance and a statement against China\u2018s political ambitions.<\/p>\n

Second, the narrative constructed around Mr. Messi\u2019s club, Inter Miami, further exemplifies the extent of the Chinese Communist Party\u2018s ideological paranoia. Chinese state media announced that the Florida-based soccer club is an anti-communist front organization with collaboration with the CIA.<\/p>\n

The Global Times, an official Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece specializing in international affairs and anti-U.S. fanaticism, published a hit piece on Feb. 8 entitled \u201cMessi\u2019s Soccer Club Bosses Have Ties to the CIA,\u201d alleging the father of two of the club\u2019s three owners, brothers Jorge and Jose Mas \u2014 the other owner is the retired British soccer star David Beckham \u2014 was recruited by the CIA after he fled to Fidel Castro\u2019s Cuba.<\/p>\n

The Global Times concluded that \u201cIt\u2019s highly unlikely that Messi\u2019s snub to Hong Kong and China was his personal decision. It\u2019s most likely that he acted according to instructions given to him by his bosses (fathered by a CIA agent).\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, Mr. Messi\u2019s absence from the field is framed as part of a broader anti-communist agenda, suggesting a level of international collusion that borders on the fantastical. Such claims reflect the Chinese government\u2019s tendency to view world affairs through a lens of ideological confrontation, where every action is seen as part of a larger battle against communism.<\/p>\n

The case of Japan serves as another layer in this complex narrative, with Mr. Messi\u2019s participation in a game in Tokyo following his absence in Hong Kong sparking further speculation and conspiracy theories. Hu Xijin, the Chinese Communist Party\u2018s most notorious and noxious propagandist, tweeted on Feb. 6: \u201cWhy didn\u2019t Messi play in Hong Kong or participate in the handshake with HK chief executive? And why did he smile, run freely and looked fit in Japan?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Communist Party\u2018s reaction, demanding an explanation and apology from Mr. Messi, underscores a sensitivity to perceived slights and a readiness to interpret individual decisions as politically motivated.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the incident touches on the sensitive issue of Hong Kong and its status in China\u2018s political framework. In 2017, upon request, Mr. Messi sent an autographed photo to one of his biggest fans, the jailed 2010 Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo via one of Liu\u2019s friends in Hong Kong. China was deeply paranoid about this and regarded Mr. Messi\u2019s action as dangerous and subversive. On Feb. 7, Regina Ip Lau Suk Yee, a leading Chinese Communist Party proxy in Hong Kong, angrily wrote, \u201cMessi should never be allowed to return to Hong Kong. His lies and hypocrisy are disgusting.\u201d She continued, \u201cHong Kong people hate Messi, Inter-Miami, and the black hand behind them, for the deliberate and calculated snub to Hong Kong.\u201d The vilification of Mr. Messi, based on his perceived support for human rights reveals the lengths to which the Chinese Communist Party is willing to go to suppress dissent and maintain its narrative of unity and strength. All in all, the uproar over Lionel Messi\u2018s not playing in a soccer game in Hong Kong encapsulates the communist worldview as the real force that animates China\u2018s political system. An entrenched ideological paranoia and a propensity for political schizophrenia characterize such a worldview. The Chinese government\u2019s reaction to this incident reveals not only its deep-seated fears of international conspiracy but also the complex interplay of geopolitics, ideology and individual agency that shapes its engagement with the world. It serves as a perfect illustration of the ideological absurdity at the heart of China\u2018s political landscape. With it, an international superstar is now an international supervillain against the socialist motherland of China. \u2022 Miles Yu is a senior fellow and director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute. Copyright \u00a9 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. Please read our comment policy before commenting. Click to Read More and Vie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Messi’s mess in Hong Kong Soccer star Lionel Messi sits out game in Hong Kong, triggers China\u2019s ideological paranoia, 2024.2.14 The recent furor surrounding Lionel Messi\u2018s absence from a soccer game in Hong Kong provides a striking illustration of China\u2019s deep-seated ideological paranoia and a tendency toward political schizophrenia. At the heart of this controversy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38891\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}