Georgetown Fights In China: Brawl Breaks Out Between Hoyas And Chinese Team During Goodwill Tour (VIDEO)

BEIJING -- A wild brawl broke out between Georgetown and a Chinese men's basketball team Thursday night, putting an immediate end to a supposed goodwill game that coincided with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the country.

The benches cleared and fights erupted all over the court with about 9 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The rest of the exhibition between Georgetown and the Bayi Rockets was called off.
Biden did not attend the game. On Wednesday, he watched the Hoyas beat the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons 98-81.

The Washington Post reported Georgetown and Bayi players tackled and threw punches at each another. Chairs and water bottles were tossed as the Hoyas headed to the locker room with the score 64-all in a testy, foul-plagued matchup.

"Tonight, two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said in a statement. "We sincerely regret that this situation occurred."

Georgetown and the Rockets are scheduled to play again Sunday night in Shanghai.

The melee was the latest instance of on-court fighting by China, whose players have been fined tens of thousands of dollars by the world and Asian federations for scrapping with opponents.

Georgetown is in China on a 10-day trip which has been cited by the U.S. State Department as an example of sports diplomacy that strengthens ties between the two countries. The Hoyas were briefed by the State Department ahead of their departure on what to expect during its trip to Beijing and Shanghai, according to news releases on the university's website.

"We remain grateful for the opportunity our student-athletes are having to engage in a sport they love here in China, while strengthening their understanding of a nation we respect and admire at Georgetown University," Thompson III said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner called it an "unfortunate" incident.

"We look to these types of exchanges to promote good sportsmanship and strengthen our people-to-people contact with China," he said.

On Thursday, Biden met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, who is expected to take over as Communist Party chief next year. After his China trip, Biden will go to Mongolia on Monday, then travel later in the day Japan.

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Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gillianwong

Comments

[ncncnc]

03:22 PM on 08/26/2011

This article is still biased against the Chinese team but it is much less biased than most articles about this incident in the American media. All these articles "forgot" to mention one crucial fact captured by the official camera at the game. And that was the fact that the American guard threw the first punch at the Chinese player which precipitated the whole brawl. All the reports in the American media will try to paint the Chinese side as the aggressors but without that crucial damning fact, you cannot really understand who was at fault.

[munki]

06:06 PM on 08/27/2011

Biased, you mean? Any and all medias are...
They even made unprecedented history in Japan...
How many prime minister of Japan went through the line in the past 10 years?
What is the country look like today?

Same in the U.S.... so is globally.
I agree with you... This is why I read media articles of same subject in few different websites, not only US, but... other part of the world.

Interesting to find out how each media interprets one subject differently from the other...
Do you remember? If you have 10 brains in a room... you have 10 opinions...

[malia123]

09:48 PM on 08/25/2011

We got stomped !!! We need them China folk to walk the beat over here .

[Puzzlr]

02:28 PM on 08/21/2011

Those Chinese players are a bunch of goons. What is there average age and the average age of the college players? Guess they figure if you can't beat them, then you try to 'beat' them. One Chinese player actually had a Hoya on the ground while pummeling him. I'd sue, if one could sue in that country. China should be ashamed.

[picaman]

01:52 PM on 08/21/2011

Penis envy.

[vexnsiolence]

11:12 AM on 08/21/2011

Bush's fault

[vexnsiolence]

11:09 AM on 08/21/2011

Actually it was over whether Kentucky Fried Chicken was better than General Tso's Chicken. Pffft, forget basketball.

[triplettam]

03:46 PM on 08/20/2011

"Goodwill" tour?

[fourex]

10:58 AM on 08/20/2011

The losers were Joe Biden and State. Putting an aggressive Georgetown team on the court with an often volatile Chinese team was not 'goodwill', but a WWF cage match. The Georgetown coach was clueless claiming after the melee, that it was a good match between highly competitive teams. A WP reporter claimed the game started and finished with hard aggressive fouling. The game was a disgrace, brutal and ugly, Thompson is clueless.

[noretreatnosurrender]

01:03 PM on 08/20/2011

According to Washington Post:
"Ayegba, who was wearing a brace on his right leg, limped onto the court with a chair in his right hand. According to Georgetown officials, Ayegba had been struck, prompting him to grab a chair in self-defense."

That excuse might make sense if he were limping away from the court.

The Washington Post didn't even realize the obvious contradiction in their own narratives. Indeed Georgetown's Ayegba was not thinking about "self defense". It was his deliberate decision to grab a chair and return to the brawl.

This should alarm the readers about the bias nature of the corporate media propaganda.

[ALiberalKidd]

10:51 PM on 08/20/2011

I guess through your "pro-china conservative lens" you did not see the Chinese player with the raised chair or them kicking the Georgetown player on the floor? And the Chinese officials not providing the Georgetown team with security back to their hotel.

[Puzzlr]

02:30 PM on 08/21/2011

What was he supposed to say? Most people in his position are briefed before they can make a statement. You know the truth, so that's all that matters.

[tyler d]

05:09 AM on 08/20/2011

most mainland chinese are dirty. they have no manners, no civility. their economic uprising outpaced their maturity and social etiquette learning. they've risen so quickly economically that they feel the constant need to prove themselves socially. they are a collective of third world country villagers hiding under the guise of a first world country through their economy trying to easy bake quick respect that takes decades to earn. just look at the olympics and how badly they wanted to prove to the world that they weren't third world anymore. and this is all coming from a chinese american. not to mention people from Hong Kong and Taiwan look down upon mainland chinese. why do you think so many people fled hong kong after the handover in 1997? it shames me to be forever associated with these people based on my apperance, though culturally we are so different. i hope that people understand mainland chinese are a distinctive cultural subset of chinese people and do not represent the culture of all chinese.

despite all that said, i honestly don't think there was any real political motivation behind the brawl. just a bunch of dirty players who didn't want to get punked on their home court, really.

[Mark Redd]

01:41 AM on 08/20/2011

I'm stunned at some of the comments trying to imply that the Chinese team had planned this altercation for political reasons. This kind of crap happens all the time in contact sports and basketball is just that, a contact sport.

[holsengojer22]

01:21 AM on 08/20/2011

As the brawl spilled beyond the baseline, an unidentified Bayi player pushed Georgetown’s Aaron Bowen through a partition to the ground before repeatedly punching the sophomore guard while sitting on his chest. http://goo.gl/qCltC

[mercorey]

11:21 PM on 08/19/2011

This was a planed attach on the American team. If you look closely at the beginning of the video, you will notice that the Chinese players on the bench did not follow the ball after it was stolen and passed out by a Georgetown player who stole the ball. Instead they focused on that Georgetown player and ran out immediately and attacked him!

Also notice that the very first Chinese guy that charged from the beach was not even in a basketball uniform, (pause the video at 0:04; he's in front of #5 that was on the bench) It appears that he was placed there just to fight.There is even a picture of him stomping on that Georgetown player. (I have the pic if you want to see it.)

I also read that each time that Vice President Biden would open up his greeting, that the Chinese government started pushing reporters out of the room. Even though it was agreed upon that both Chinese and American officials will be heard by the media on their opening statements.

China is picking a fight. We need to stop buying their stuff, it is making them wealthier, stronger and bolder. The assaults are going to keep coming from them. They are testing us now with these two incidents.

[globalguy]

11:20 PM on 08/19/2011

China has become arrogant. They have become intoxicated with their economic miracle. Further they look upon the USA as a fading power. Lastly they view African Americans as lessor beings.I have been traveling to China for 20 years now and sadly this has become of China.

[noretreatnosurrender]

12:00 AM on 08/20/2011

"Lastly they view African Americans as lessor beings"

Only White Americans view African Americans as lessor beings, not the Chinese. It's because the Chinese don't have "white guilt" when dealing with African Americans.

[Mac Noo]

02:11 AM on 08/20/2011

If you think some white americans are the only humans who view blacks as lesser beings you are kidding yourself. Ask any well traveled black person and he will tell you that you are delusional. Black people are discriminated against the world over. Mexico for one is the most racist country I have ever been to. Not only do many mexicans hate black people. They hate white people too. And don't forget Japanese people. They are the most racist and xenophobic humans on the planet. Just look at the racial makeup of their society if you need proof.

[WestCoastCanada]

07:15 PM on 08/20/2011

When I lived in China many years ago, university students in some cities protested against African exchange students because they went out with local girls (though the incidents escalated due to other, unfounded rumours).

[HanMeiRen]

10:39 PM on 08/19/2011

If I were still a Chinese citizen I would have apologized to the Georgetown team.

If it makes anyone feel a little better the conduct by the Chinese team in this brawl was condemned by a couple girls/boys whose exchanges in the background were recorded by the video above.

Here is a rough translation of the exchanges:

“This (directed towards the Chinese team) is **** shameful…This is disgusting”…”Number 21 (of Georgetown) was separated from his group…and suffered great beating…”

[realpragmatist]

10:04 PM on 08/19/2011

I visited China on work in 2003 and was astonished at their dislike of America even then, even with highly educated people having close relatives in the US.
I hope that this basketball game is not a precursor to Sino-US relations and if it did, I hope the US military fares better than they did in Korea and Vietnam against China.
The Chinese players beat up these poor American kids, but to the credit of the kids, they showed restraint and diplomacy (I hope that was the case and not that they were just overpowered).

[noretreatnosurrender]

12:08 AM on 08/20/2011

"was astonished at their dislike of America"

It was not limited to the Chinese. The whole world dislike America.
How to make the world befriend America? Stop wars and stop killing innocent civilians.

[army eunuch]

01:29 AM on 08/20/2011

American efforts to stop the spread of HIV in Africa has saved millions of people. What has China done for the rest of the world? Ah yes they've shipped 10,000 Chinese workers to Sudan to work on oil production in lieu of the locals. American citizens sent millions of dollars to aid the victims of the tsunami in Japan. What has China done for the world? Boys and girls are going to school in Afghanistan and women are being treated with more respect due to America. What has China done for the world? The USA liberated China from the Japanese in WWII - at least the Japanese are grateful for our humane treatment of them after the war, more than can be said for China. China spreads myths and lies of the great Han people - what a joke. How did the Manchu suddenly become Han? What happened to the Zhao, the Chu, the Qi, Yan and Qin people. Han was only a small part of the population of China. PRC distorts history just as the National Socialist Party did in Nazi Germany.

[CentralNY]

03:03 PM on 08/20/2011

How much have you traveled?

[Puzzlr]

02:35 PM on 08/21/2011

I don't think China's huge military will be a factor in the next war. With drones, you don't need a lot of people on the ground. We are flying missions from the US in Afghanistan, using drones. Good luck with all those soldiers China.