In the leadup to this month’s NBA …

Freedom went on to say that he found …

Freedom went on to say that he found Tsai and the people of Taiwan “amazing” for standing against China even when under a considerable amount of political pressure, and expressed a palpable desire to answer Tsai’s invitation to visit Taiwan. He said that he not only anticipates participating in basketball camps and trying foods which Tsai recommended in her Twitter message, he is also looking forward to sitting down with Tsai to have a face-to-face conversation.

Former basketball star Yao Ming on …

Former basketball star Yao Ming on Monday invited staunch Beijing critic Enes Kanter Freedom to visit China after the Boston Celtics player urged athletes to boycott the Winter Olympics in the capital. Kanter has emerged as one of China’s most vocal critics in the sporting world, a rare athlete willing to forgo lucrative endorsements to speak on issues such as Beijing’s treatment of its Uyghur Muslim and Tibetan minorities.

Yao, China’s most famous basketball …

Yao, China’s most famous basketball star and one of its Olympic bid ambassadors, was asked about Kanter’s politics at a press gathering in Beijing on Monday. “I’ve heard of him, but I can’t really judge him because I don’t know him,” the retired Houston Rockets player and current president of the China Basketball Association said. “If there is an opportunity, I would like to invite him to visit China… Then he may have a more comprehensive understanding of us.”