WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence criticized American companies on Thursday for trying to silence speech that expresses support for democratic, liberal values in order to maintain access to the Chinese market, saying the corporations should adhere to American principles while doing business with China.

In a wide-ranging policy speech on what he called the “fundamental restructuring of our relationship with China,” Mr. Pence accused Nike of checking its “conscience at the door” and owners and players in the N.B.A. of “siding with the Chinese Communist Party” by suppressing support for the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. He highlighted those examples to make a wider point about how American companies often make compromises with China that put them at odds with Western liberal values — and the long-term effect this has on candid discussion of China among Americans.

“By exploiting corporate greed, Beijing is attempting to influence American public opinion, coercing corporate America,” Mr. Pence said. “And far too many American multinational corporations have kowtowed to the lure of China’s money and markets by muzzling not only criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, but even affirmative expressions of American values.”

The N.B.A. this month came under widespread criticism, including from American lawmakers in both parties, when it initially appeared to give some support, in a confusing mix of English and Chinese statements, to a Chinese government attack on a Houston Rockets executive who had expressed sympathy for the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong in a tweet.