I bet she thinks china would make a better colonial master than Russia

[liberty]

I bet she thinks china would make a better colonial master than Russia


The US is not a real country; it is a collection of interest groups, it's a place to come to make money. This girl is not doing anything wrong, and when this is all over, all she has to do is say, I made a mistake. I want to come back.




American skier ditches Team USA to compete for communist China in Olympics
IOC President Thomas Bach during the Opening Ceremony of BEIJING 2022. (Greg Martin/IOC/Released)
FEBRUARY 07, 2022 LIZ GEORGE


American-born-and-raised Olympic skier Eileen Gu reportedly gave up her American passport and was naturalized as a Chinese citizen to compete in the Beijing Winter Olympics for communist China, new reports highlighted last week.

After growing up and training in the United States and competing as a member of the U.S. freestyle ski team, Gu revealed on Instagram in 2019 that she had decided to compete for China in the Beijing Winter Olympics.


“This was an incredibly tough decision for me to make,” Gu wrote at the time, according to a The Wall Street Journal report last week. Gu, whose mother was born in China, said she hoped the controversial move would “inspire millions of young people where my mom was born.” Gu added that she wanted to “unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between nations.”



China doesn’t recognize dual citizenships, and Red Bull, which sponsors Gu, said on its website that “US-born Gu decided to give up her American passport and naturalize as a Chinese citizen in order to compete for China in Beijing—because Chinese law doesn’t recognize dual nationality.”


Red Bull removed the passage from its website, however, after The Wall Street Journal reached out to the company for comment.



Gu has previously said, “When I’m in the U.S., I’m American. When I’m in China, I’m Chinese.”

Her decision to compete for China comes at a time when dozens of nations have condemned China’s Communist Party for committing abhorrent human rights violations against its own citizens, including slave labor, forced sterilization and abortion, and genocide.

In 2019, Gu appeared at an event in China wearing the Team China uniform and standing just feet from the Chinese Communist Party’s leader, President Xi Jinping. She appeared to be listening intently as Xi urged Gu and other athletes to win in the Beijing Olympics in order to honor China.

“This is a once-in-a-century opportunity,” Xi said at the time, adding that their success was critical to “the nation’s great rejuvenation.”

“It is of great significance to be able to participate in the Winter Olympic Games, especially in the city where my mother was born and the city I have been to every summer since I was two years old,” Gu told China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency last year. “On a personal level, it is even more meaningful to me. It is a great honor for me to represent China in the competition!”



Ahead of the start of the Beijing Olympics last week, other American skiers expressed discontent with Gu’s decision to compete for China.

“It is not my place to judge, but Eileen is from California, not from China, and her decision [to ski for China] seems opportunistic,” Jen Hudak, a former Winter X Games gold medalist for the USA women’s team, told the New York Post. “I can’t speak to what Eileen’s Chinese heritage means to her and she has every right to do what she believes is best for her career.”

Hudak added that Gu “became the athlete she is because she grew up in the United States, where she had access to premier training grounds and coaching that, as a female, she might not have had in China.”

“I think she would be a different skier if she grew up in China,” she continued. “This makes me sad. It would be nice to see the medals going to America.

[Joe Guy]

.... The US is not a real country; it is a collection of interest groups, it's a place to come to make money. This girl is not doing anything wrong, and when this is all over, all she has to do is say, I made a mistake. I want to come back.

She didn't make a mistake. That was her plan.

She made the wong decision...

She doesn't deserve any attention. Nice going, Gu...

[Bicycle Bill]

It's been done before, mostly in team sports such as basketball or hockey.  A player from outside the USA is recruited/drafted to a pro team, but when the Olympics come around they are wearing a Canadian or Russian or Chinese uniform.

Just think ... if I could have somehow been able to show a connection/citizenship to some country like Tonga or Upper Volta or even Monaco, I could have ridden as an Olympic cyclist.  Granted I would have been spit out the back of the pack like a seed at a watermelon-eating contest, but just like "Eddy the Eagle", I would always be able to rightly claim that I had been, at one time, an Olympian.

And since I don't/didn't dope, I might even have medaled after all the juicers got DQed!!

-"BB"-

[MajGenl.Meade]

It's been done before, mostly in team sports such as basketball or hockey.  A player from outside the USA is recruited/drafted to a pro team, but when the Olympics come around they are wearing a Canadian or Russian or Chinese uniform.

Surely not the same? Do those you have in mind become US citizens and then ditch that citizenship to play with the home team?

Better yet, are they natural born Americans who play in (e.g.) Italy and then are drafted by or signed to a contract with the NBA and THEN give up their USA passport to play for the Italian national team?

And a question. The USA itself does not "recognize" dual citizenship - or does it? Certainly when one is naturalized one must renounce all other allegiances (to country) in order to qualify. But maybe born-in-the-USA citizens can be dual citizens?

[ex-khobar Andy]

Would Ms Gu have made the US Olympic team?

[BoSoxGal]

This from an immigration to the USA website FAQ:

Does the United States allow dual citizenship?
Yes, the United States allows dual citizenship. If you are a naturalized citizen, you don’t have to give up citizenship from your country of origin. U.S. immigration law does not prohibit dual nationality. The U.S. Supreme Court also ruled that people can “have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries.”

However, your country of origin may or may not allow dual citizenship. Certain countries will not recognize your status as a naturalized American citizen. For example, Canada and Italy allow for dual citizenship, but China does not. You could even lose your foreign citizenship status automatically after completing the American naturalization process or have to apply for citizenship retention. This makes it very important to check your current country's citizenship laws before applying for U.S citizenship.

https://www.immigrationhelp.org/learnin ... p-possible

I have to say that while there are some countries I could see myself renouncing my US citizenship for, China is not one of them. Not even if I was half Chinese, not even if I was an elite athlete with a desire to gain a spot on an Olympic team for which maybe I wasn’t good enough for a USA team spot.

Look at the way they’ve attacked the 19 year old figure skater who renounced her US citizenship to skate for China and then fell during her program. Disgusting.

I wonder if these athletes were counseled that they would have no difficulty being naturalized back into US citizenship?

I can’t help thinking of what Michael Phelps has revealed about the mental health issues apparently quite common in elite Olympic athletes whose whole lives their entire childhood have been sport sport sport driving them to put aside all other considerations to the point that mental breakdown occurs when the Olympic moment has passed. I should think waking up to realize you’re stuck with Chinese citizenship, no medals, no big endorsement contracts, etc. might fall into that realm.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Thank yew!

(Secretly, I still have my UK passport and renew it when necessary. I felt like a bold outlaw - until now )

[Jarlaxle]

.... The US is not a real country; it is a collection of interest groups, it's a place to come to make money. This girl is not doing anything wrong, and when this is all over, all she has to do is say, I made a mistake. I want to come back.

She didn't make a mistake. That was her plan.

She made the wong decision...

She doesn't deserve any attention. Nice going, Gu...

Was it HER plan, or was she coerced into it by someone? (Parents, someone threatening her parents....)

[BoSoxGal]

I wonder if China offered significant financial incentive beyond just a place on the national team?

[Jarlaxle]

I wonder if China offered significant financial incentive beyond just a place on the national team?

Possibly-either to her or to her parents.

[Big RR]

Or not; I don't know what her motivation was, but I can think of a lot of reasons why she would make the choice she made that did not involve personal gain. She is an exceptional skier, and I wouldn't criticize her because of a bad day; likewise, without knowing what her motivations were, I will not criticize that decision. The Olympics is, or should be, about excellence in sports, let's stop the misplaced faux-patriotism.

[Long Run]

If it were not for "controversial" stories like this, no one would be paying attention at all to this Olympics. Worst ratings ever. No tourist visitors due to Chinese policy re COVID. While I agree with BigRR that the Olympics are mainly about things other than politics, that does not mean you pick the most disgustingly run countries to be hosts. There are plenty of other things to occupy one's time.

[Big RR]

I've been watching and it has been interesting, but then I enjoy the ski events and events you don't see very often like luge and bobsled. I am not crazy about NBC's coverage and how a lot has been shuffled to their pay station Peacock, but that is the way TV is going.

As for venue, I was no fan of placing them in China, but they are doing a pretty good job of running the games under difficult conditions, much like Japan did in the summer. But face it, if China can compete, how can they be banned from hosting the games? The hosting is not a reward, it's basically given to the country that can actually pull it off, and the committee wants to have games in all hemispheres--there are not a lot of countries in Asia that can host a winter games. Maybe we should get a permanent venue for Winter and Summer games, but I'm not sure who would sponsor them if we did.