Culture & Society

Karma bites US-born skater who gave up citizenship to compete for China only to finish last on Beijing ice

February 6, 2022 | | Print Article

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Karma may have been served cold for figure skater Beverly Zhu at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The California-born athlete, 19, now known as Zhu Yi, who renounced her U.S. citizenship to compete for China, reportedly fell twice on the ice during her debut in the women’s short program, coming in last and relegating her team to fifth place in the event.

Despite Zhu’s flop which reportedly prompted a backlash on Chinese social media, Team China managed to advance to the next round, where perhaps she might get a chance to redeem herself in the eyes of her adopted country.

Zhu Yi admitted that she was “upset and a little embarrassed” about what happened, implying that the pressure might have gotten to her, CNN reported.

For what it’s worth, the lackluster performance also prompted an outpouring of negativity on Wiebo, China’s supposed equivalent to Twitter, where “Zhu Yi has fallen” began trending (before it was censored), according to the Daily Mail:

Please let her learn Chinese first, before she talks about patriotism,’ one Weibo user wrote.

‘This is such a disgrace,’ another commented, gaining 11,000 likes from other users.

‘Anyone would question how she was chosen to the team. Is it because she has a scientist father?’ echoed another.

One Weibo user added: ‘Zhu Yi, how ridiculous your performance is! How dare you skate for China? You cannot even hold a candle to an amateur!’ echoed another.

‘Waiting for a storm that belongs to Zhu Yi, but really. What is this slipping?’ a different user stated.

 

“Zhu is among at least a dozen foreign-born athletes recruited by China in recent years in an attempt to bolster its medal count at the Winter Olympics. But the attack against her also highlights the pressure these naturalized athletes face to compete under the Chinese flag,” CNN added.

China may also be trying to bolster its propaganda efforts with these recruitments.

Zhu, whose father is a former UCLA scientist who now works for Peking University in Beijing, grew up in an upscale Los Angeles family of Chinese heritage.

In this country, parenthetically, the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics on NBC was anything but must-see-TV, with record-low ratings.

Whether this factors into the viewership or not, many people find it inexplicable that the world would participate in an event in a country that arguably unleashed COVID-19.

Zhu Yi is not the only American who has joined up with Team China.

“The attack on Zhu stands in stark contrast to the huge popularity of California-born Eileen Gu, a freeskiing prodigy who is also competing for China. The 18-year-old has charmed the Chinese public with her fluent Mandarin and familiarity with Chinese culture, having grown up spending summer holidays in Beijing,” CNN explained.

Giving up their citizenship under any circumstances, let alone to relocate to a communist country, is something most Americans could never contemplate.

But is it really that out of line perhaps when you consider how U.S., anything-for-a-buck, opportunistic and often hypocritical corporations grovel in various ways to the authoritarian CCP regardless of rampant human rights violations in China?

According to Outkick, professional hockey player Jake Chelios, the son of National Hockey League star Chris Chelios, and who has no ties to China other than playing for a Beijing-based team in the KHL, is nonetheless playing for Team China.

“The Olympics has been bastardized with rules that allow nations to grab athletes to fill squads. Why? China doesn’t want to be embarrassed, so it went out and found some North Americans and other professional players outside the NHL to help them,” Outkick writer Joe Kinsey claimed.

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Robert Jonathan
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