Tech CEO, NBA Co-Owner Promises “Nobody Cares About What is Happening to the Uyghurs” within China
Palihapitiya’s company states “advance humanity by resolving the world’s hardest problems”
A CEO whose company aims to “ advance humanity simply by solving the world’s toughest problems” said “ nobody cares about what’s taking place to the Uyghurs, ” a Muslim minority group facing possible genocide in China.
Chamath Palihapitiya is also a co-owner of a NBA team, the Fantastic State Warriors – and the NBA has recently courted debate over its relationship to China.
“ Nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs alright? ” Palihapitiya told podcaster David Sacks, who was surprised by the statement. “ A person bring it up because you really care, and I think it’s great that you care, but… the rest of us don’t care. ”
Owner from the @warriors 🏀 says he is not going to care about the Uyghurs.
The conversation goes downhill from there. @chamath …
– questions whether a genocide is actually happening
– says the CCP isn’t a dictatorship
– says the US is no much better than the CCP pic. twitter. com/qAwi7hUPvo
— Erina Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) January 17, 2022
A lot of people do treatment given the intense backlash Palihapitiya is now facing, along with critics pointing out the Sri Lanka-born billionaire had to flee to Canada since a child to escape human rights issues the Uyghurs are now dealing with in China.
Palihapitiya continued to say that “ not until we can take care of ourselves will I prioritize them over us, ” but critics likewise blasted this statement as a false dilemma, noting that its potential to care about the Uyghurs while also caring about issues in America.
In response to the controversy, Palihapitiya released a statement declaring that “ human legal rights matter” but stopped in short supply of actually apologizing, which additional fueled the controversy.
Important issues deserve nuanced discussions. A few clarifying comments: pic. twitter. com/St2jccsu05
— Chamath Palihapitiya (@chamath) January 18, 2022
“ What a good non-apology. There is not even a mention of the word ‘ Uyghur, ‘” said Yaqiu Wang, the senior China researcher with Human Rights Watch.
The Warriors, however , distanced themselves from their co-owner, going as far as calling Palihapitiya a “ limited investor” who has “ no daily operating functions” with the group.
“ Mr. Palihapitiya does not speak for our franchise, and his sights certainly don’t reflect those of our organization, ” the team stated .
Palihapitiya may be the CEO and founder associated with Social Capital, a company whose mission, according to its web site , would be to “ advance humanity by solving the world’s hardest problems. ”
