Every four years, the nations of the world gather together in peace to watch the best of their people compete in a series of games in the name of peace and global harmony. On paper, it sounds marvelous. Everyone puts down their arms (and temporarily, their Play Croco Casino login fun) to join together in have some simple fun. However, the reality is far more complicated than that.
First, competition of this nature invites… well, the desire to win. Countries, such as China, have a chip on their shoulder and are determined to prove themselves superior to the western powers (America in particular) in every way. Chinese athletes have been busted for violating the rules on multiple occasions, including even going so far as to force their athletes to take steroids to perform better.
Cheating aside, the idea behind the Olympics is in some ways flawed, in the same way, that the United Nations is. Not all nations are equal. Obviously, there’s military might, but I’m talking morally and culturally. Dictatorships do not deserve an equal say at the table alongside democracies. I mean, for cryin’ out loud, North Korea has sat on the UN security council.
So when a major American athlete decides to leave America, renounce her citizenship, and compete for another country, it’s a pretty big deal.
Eileen Gu
Full disclosure: I’m am not a sports guy. I don’t usually follow the Olympics, sports, or even E-Sports, much less Skiing. So before this recent controversy blew up, I had never heard of Eileen Gu before in my life.
If you’re unfamiliar, Eileen Gu is (well, was) an American national, born and raised in the US of A. In California, naturally. Her father is American, and her mother is Chinese. In 2019, she won her first World Cup while representing the United States. She then announced on Instagram that she would be competing for China in the Beijing Olympics in 2022.
This is a pretty big deal, and, notably, China doesn’t allow for dual citizenship. If you want to play for them, as Eileen does (did, by the time this is published), she has to renounce her American citizenship. Entirely, with no take-backs.
If you don’t get the vast implications, I’ll break it down. This isn’t like she bounced from the Red Socks to the Yankees. She gave up her United States citizenship for Chinese citizenship. She is no longer protected by US diplomats. She might not be allowed back into the US since she should have to give up her passport, and she no longer has access to the privileges or services in the United States.
And outside of the legal implications, it’s also tacitly condoning China as a whole. She is declaring, I think China is not only morally equivalent to the United States, but I love them so much I’m going to throw my hat into the ring for them. I’ve seen people throw the term “traitor” around online, and… well… yeah?
It’s not a matter of supporting her heritage or exploring her identity. If it were, I wouldn’t be writing about this. There’s no shame in understanding one’s history and appreciating it- both the good and the bad.
But this is different. She’s directly supporting the present-day CCP. The same CCP that is responsible for the biggest famine in history. The same CCP that’s responsible for the obliteration of China’s pre-communist culture. The same CCP whose horrendous one-child policy resulted in the deaths of millions of babies. The same CCP that welded people inside of their homes when Covid broke out. The same CCP that then lied to the world and tried to blame the US army for the Covid breakout. The same CCP that marched troops into Hong Kong to suppress the rights of their new citizenry. The same goddamn CCP that is actively committing genocide against the Uyghurs Muslims.
Yeah, that’s who Eileen decided she liked better.
Those who don’t remember the past…
In 1936, Nazi Germany hosted the Olympic games. Hitler himself attended it and used the Olympics as an opportunity to show off how grand and marvelous his Reich and the Aryan people were.
Now imagine if an American athlete with German heritage had decided to renounce his citizenship and play for the Nazis… after the Holocaust was already in full swing. I don’t see much difference between that and what Eileen Gu has done.
So is the term “traitor” justified? Yeah, I think so.
Questionable Motives
Moreover, I, and many others, are highly suspect when it comes to Eileen’s motivations for this move. She claims it’s because she wants to represent her heritage and inspire Chinese girls to become skiers.
And for all I know, that may very well be the case.
However, since she agreed to do this, Eileen has found herself with a lot of money. She has made significant brand deals with several modeling agencies, including Victoria’s Secret, Tiffany, IWC, Beats by Dre, and the list goes on. She has also signed deals with over twenty different Chinese companies, including but not limited to, Bank of China, China Mobile, and the milk company Mengniu. Each endorsement is apparently worth 2.5 million dollars.
The Consequences
With all that said, I have to clarify that it’s technically unknown whether or not she actually renounced her citizenship. She doesn’t appear on the IRS’ “Quarterly Publication of Individuals Who Have Chosen to Expatriate” in the Federal Ledger. China requires its athletes to be full citizens, as China doesn’t allow dual citizenship, but did they bend the rules for Eileen? I don’t doubt that they wouldn’t. Also, she was 15 when she made the announcement when she had to be at least 16 in order to legally renounce her US citizenship. That, and vague comments from Eileen herself, have left everyone scratching their heads.
However, if she truly did give up her citizenship (and she hasn’t yet claimed otherwise), she should face the full consequences of that decision. She should have her passport revoked and be required to live as a Chinese national. She should have to get a work visa to do any modeling work in the US. And if she should regret this decision, she should be required to get on the waiting 5+ year waiting list, just like every other immigrant- or at least have the decency to walk on foot across the southern border, like a proper illegal alien.
Is that harsh? You’re damn right it is. She took the side of an evil communist dictatorship and, I’m sorry, but one’s heritage and goodwill intentions don’t excuse that. She has made pretty damn big decisions and should have to live with the consequences of her actions.
Unlike the Olympics, geopolitics is not a game. This isn’t me getting whiny about sports teams because China took home the gold. I don’t care at all about the sport itself. This is about morals and ideology, and Eileen Gu sided with America’s ideological enemy. Winnie the Poo and the CCP are not good people.
And before you try to cancel me, I refer to the CCP, and its dictator specifically, not the Chinese citizens- some of whom, I assume, are good people.
China actively opposes everything we in the west claim to stand for. Human rights, freedom of speech, sovereignty, nationality, history, intellectual property, actual property, and heck, even the plain ol’ truth.
The Chinese Government lies, cheats, and steals its way to success. It’s played the long economic game to get where it is. It teases its massive market in front of western businesses to make them drool.
It pours billions of dollars into Hollywood in order to get celebrities and actors saying pro-China crap while simultaneously removing any implication in these films that China has ever done anything wrong, ever. It uses its dirt-cheap labor (who are practically slaves) to lure manufacturing across the pacific. Through these machinations, China has made itself into one of the biggest economic powerhouses and could cripple the world if it decided to just stop shipping its junk tomorrow.
Is it any wonder that athletes like Eileen are drawn in? That John Cena makes apology videos in Mandarin? That Hollywood, the NFL, and the NBA placate China’s racist population, despite how much these organizations virtue signal here in the west? Hollywood gargles China’s backwash to get access to its market. They hide Chadwick Boseman’s face on the Chinese versions of Black Panther posters. They obscure Finn on Star Wars posters. And what does Hollywood get for all its efforts?
Pimp slapped. Because China will also ban films like Shang Chi, despite starring a Chinese protagonist, because the actor was, I kid you not, “too ugly”.
So good on you, Eileen. This is your “heritage”. I hope you truly have given up your US citizenship and perhaps get a taste of what it’s like to live under the real China. Then you can cry your crocodile tears on top of your mountain of money and Uyghur corpses, which would serve you right. God willing you survive, and don’t go through whatever the hell poor Peng Shuai had to go through.