BEIJING — Nearly three-quarters of the athletes representing Team China at this Winter Olympics are not Chinese citizens.
China has made it difficult to determine who will represent a country’s national team in the Winter Olympics. This is because of issues such as citizenship, identity, and ethnicity.
Switching teams is very common. There are many countries with a long history of immigration, like the United States and Canada. Smaller countries, like Qatar or Bahrain have long added naturalized athletes to their national teams.
Tom Fabian, an Ottawa researcher who studies international athletics, says that there is a “brawn drain” going on. It’s not a one-off phenomenon.
China is however a latecomer. This is because China expressly prohibits its citizens holding citizenship in any other country.
Eileen Gu, a U.S.-born freestyle skier, announced via Instagram that she would be representing Team China at the Beijing Winter Olympics in July 2019. Many wondered: Had Gu taken a Chinese passport, and given up her American passport?
She has so far avoided answering such questions. She stated that she is American when she’s in the U.S. and Chinese when she’s in China at an Olympic news conference.
China’s citizenship laws date back over a century
Why is China so strict about nationality laws?
This is the Qing Dynasty. It was 1909 in particular. That’s just two years after a massive revolution toppled imperial rule in China.
In 1909, Qing officials introduced China’s first law of nationality. They also established the bloodline principle, which states that citizenship is determined by your Chinese heritage and not where you were born.
Ethnic Chinese immigrants living in Europe, Southeast Asia and the U.S. were trying to overthrow Chinese dynastic rule. Qing dynasty officials wanted to co-opt them and stop them fomenting revolution.
They took their inspiration from the Japanese nationality law of the time, which also relied upon a jus sanguinisprinciple for citizenship.
Tom Mullaney, a Stanford University history professor, says that “it is really a 20th-century phenomenon of Chinese regimes celebrating so-called overseas Chinese community and reaching out to them and seeking connection with them.”
The control of citizenship was a means to ensure allegiance only to China. Shao Dan, a historian at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, says that they assumed the consequence of the bloodline principle would lead to unconditional permanent loyalty.
The desire to protect Chinese citizens abroad also drove this emphasis on the ancestral national identity.
Shao claims that Qing officials wanted the Dutch East Indies to stop a decision to make thousands of Chinese-ethnic colonists Dutch citizens. This triggered a flood of petitions to the Qing court asking for Chinese citizenship.
This ethnic heritage approach to nationalism continues to be used by the Chinese state today to see diaspora Chinese, even those with foreign passports, as fundamentally Chinese and a target in political influence operations.
More important than citizenship is nationality
When athletes decide which national team they will compete for, it comes down to eligibility.
This is where things get even more complicated.
Mike Gow, an Edgehill University lecturer in international management, says that citizenship is a more formal recognition that confers certain rights on you. “Nationality is more closely tied to your identity [and] who and what you are.”
The International Olympic Committee does not require athletes to have citizenship in order to participate on a national team. They only require that they can prove their nationality.
You can establish nationality by living in a country for an extended period of time, or by proving a personal connection to the country through ancestry. The International Ice Hockey Federation permits male hockey players to represent their country at international competitions if they have lived in the country for at least four years. Female hockey athletes need only to do this for two years.
As a result, about three-quarters of Team China are made up of athletes who were born in North America or Russia.
Therefore, foreign athletes who were born in China to Chinese parents could claim Chinese citizenship to play for China. They may also be allowed to keep a second passport.
The IOC confirmed Gu acquired Chinese citizenship in 2019.
The Chinese National Olympic Committee submitted all documentation including a copy her Chinese passport. Accordingly, Ms Gu is eligible to represent China in the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
The Chinese consulate, New York states that athletes who have obtained permanent Chinese residency may also be eligible to play for the Chinese national soccer team.
China relaxed the requirements for its permanent residence status in 2020. This was similar to a greencard. It allowed any foreigner who had demonstrated talent in science, technology, economics, or health to apply.
Gary Chodorow is an American immigration lawyer who has specialized in China. He says that although only a few people have been granted permanent residency, it’s a sign of China’s loosening up on its rigid views about who counts as Chinese.
Chodorov says that the Chinese government’s most important goal is to be able to tap into the wealth and expertise of other Chinese, allowing them to travel to China to exchange what they have and to contribute.
Acceptance by the greater Chinese society is a different matter than law.
This seems to only be true for those who succeed.
Zhu Yi (a U.S.-born figure skating competitor on China’s team), fell during her first Olympic performance. Chinese internet users lambasted Zhu Yi for her mistake and her poor Mandarin.
