Eileen Gu and citizenship

[easyrider16]

I do not respect her decision to represent the Chinese instead of the nation of her birth. This article explains precisely why.

Two women have dominated Chinese social media during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

One is Eileen Gu, the 18-year-old skier born and raised in California who won a gold medal for China. The other is a mother of eight who was found chained around her neck to the wall of a doorless shack.

The Chinese internet is exploding with discussions about which of the two represents the real China. Many people are angry that the government-controlled algorithms glorify Ms. Gu, who fits into the narrative of the powerful and prosperous China, while censoring the chained woman, whose deplorable conditions defy that narrative.

The two women’s starkly different circumstances — celebrated vs. silenced — reflect the reality that to the Chinese state, everyone is a tool that serves a purpose until it does not.

Whether she wants it, Ms. Gu has become a powerful propaganda tool for Beijing to demonstrate its appeal to global talent and the benefits of being loyal to China. She represents the successful China that Beijing would like the world to admire.

The chained woman represents the poor and backward China that hundreds of millions still inhabit. They sometimes appear in the state media to demonstrate the country’s success in eradicating extreme poverty until their miseries become an inconvenient truth.

“Does Eileen Gu’s success have anything to do with ordinary Chinese?” goes the headline of one viral article that was censored later.

“Can we remember these women while cheering for Eileen Gu?” asks another headline.

“To judge whether a society is civilized or not, we should not look at how successful the privileged are but how miserable the disadvantaged are,” the article said. “Ten thousand sports champions can’t wash away the humiliation of one enslaved woman, not to mention tens of thousands of them.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/busi ... woman.html

[spanky]

You can choose not to respect her, but changing citizenship for Olympic competition happens all the time.

A Canadian bobsled champion had a beef with her coaches and became an American citizen - she won gold for USA this year.

A high school friend of mine of Japanese decent attempted to make the Japanese Olympic team for moguls.

Just to name two.

[boston_e]

Indeed changing citizenships and Olympic competitions is not all that uncommon.

I read somewhere that she chose to compete for China as she felt her competing would help inspire more young women and girls in China than in the US - so her choice may have been well intentioned even if we don't all agree with it.

[easyrider16]

Changing citizenship for Olympic competition between USA, Japan and Canada, whatever. Changing between a country like the USA and an autocractic, repressive government like China is a different animal. I think Gu is an example of a young, overprivileged person who doesn't really understand the consequences of her actions or the situation of people who don't share her level of privilege. Just my opinion.

[Heywood jablowmee]

"Just my opinion"...man...if I had a dime for every time this Verbal Diahreaa King blathered on....

[deadheadskier]

Changing citizenship for Olympic competition between USA, Japan and Canada, whatever. Changing between a country like the USA and an autocractic, repressive government like China is a different animal. I think Gu is an example of a young, overprivileged person who doesn't really understand the consequences of her actions or the situation of people who don't share her level of privilege. Just my opinion.

I don't think it's that at all. I think she is chasing money. I bet Chinese companies at the urging of their government offered very lucrative sponsorships beyond what she would receive here in the states.

[easyrider16]

If that's the case, it makes it even worse. It means she decided to become a mercenary for an oppressive regime.