Moolenaar: What Has LeBron James Learned About the Chinese Communist Party?
Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar responded to LeBron James’ tour of China—his 15th visit with Nike to the CCP-controlled nation. In 2019, James criticized basketball executive Daryl Morey for supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. James said at the time, “I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand…so many people could have been harmed, not only financially, but physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and what we say, and what we do.”
“After more than a dozen trips to China, what has LeBron James learned about the Chinese Communist Party? Has he learned about its persecution of spiritual people of all faiths, including the genocide of Uyghur Muslims? Has he heard how the CCP actively subsidizes the chemicals used to make fentanyl, which has killed or otherwise harmed millions of Americans? Or about the financial harm done to his American fans through the CCP’s theft of intellectual property and predatory trade practices? I hope that as an Olympian he is at least aware of the corrupt World Anti-Doping Agency, which allowed Chinese swimmers to compete in the Olympics after they cheated and tested positive for steroids,” said Moolenaar.
Earlier this week, James told the state-run People’s Daily newspaper that basketball is “a bridge that connects us,” and it is “super-humbling for me to come here.”
Background
In May 2023, the Select Committee released a bipartisan report detailing the atrocities of the CCP’s ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province. The report found, “it is estimated that as many as two million Uyghurs and other minorities have been detained in mass internment camps and subjected to political indoctrination, torture, forced labor, and other human rights abuses.”
In April 2024, the Select Committee released a bipartisan report on China’s role in the fentanyl crisis. The report concluded “The PRC, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the ultimate geographic source of the fentanyl crisis. Companies in China produce nearly all of illicit fentanyl precursors, the key ingredients that drive the global illicit fentanyl trade.”
In January 2025, Moolenaar, Select Committee Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced the Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act. This legislation would permanently provide the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) the authority to withhold funding to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) if the organization fails to fairly operate and ensure athletes are competing in drug-free Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The legislation came after media reports revealed WADA allowed Chinese swimmers to compete in 2021 Olympics even after they tested positive for steroids.