In a recent interview, NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom once again expressed his love of Taiwan by praising its people and calling President Tsai Ing-wen (???) “one of my heroes.”

Speaking with U.S. state-owned international radio broadcaster Voice of America (VOA), Freedom, known for his outspoken political views against dictatorships aside from his prolific career as a Boston Celtics center, touched on his recent Twitter exchange with Chinese NBA Hall of Famer Yao Ming (??).

The two had a recent public dispute over China, which Freedom called “one of the biggest dictatorships in the world.”

In their exchanges, Freedom criticized China’s politics and human rights violations, which eventually led to Yao blocking him from social media.

Freedom also touched on Taiwan, which he is openly fond of.

Recently, Freedom even took to Twitter to promote Taiwan’s difference from China, lauding democracy over dictatorship.

“I heard about Taiwan obviously from my friends,” Freedom said. “And I went to Google Images, I wanted to see what Taiwan is about, and it was one of the most beautiful country(s) that I (have) seen on pictures.”

Freedom, who was born in Switzerland to Turkish parents and raised in Turkey before moving to the United States to play basketball at age 17, is such an active voice against dictatorships and authoritarian regimes that he legally adopted his current last name when he became an American citizen on Nov. 29, 2021.

His foray into political activism started in recent years when he spoke out against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he considers a dictator.

Freedom’s outspoken criticisms even led to the arrest of his father, while the basketball player himself became a wanted man in the country.

In line with his political views, Freedom has recently started to condemn the Chinese government and its leader Xi Jinping (???) for human rights abuses toward Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers.

Recently, Freedom called out to Taiwanese-American basketball player Jeremy Lin (???) to stand with Taiwan and stop taking “dirty Chinese Communist Party money.”

With the recent tensions between Taiwan’s democracy against China’s authoritarianism, Freedom has grown very fond of Taiwan, so much so that he’s made recent exchanges with Tsai over Twitter.

“President Tsai sent me a very warm message, and that actually really inspired me,” he said. “She is definitely one of my heroes.”

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.

“I think it is really important for me to not just receive a message but sit down and talk to her face to face and hear their struggle(s). But I think what they have there (in Taiwan), standing strong and it gives me so much hope and motivation.”

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel