Fresno State instructor: Eileen Gu’s morality was lacking in decision to ski for China
Eileen Gu is not, as many claim, a “traitor” for choosing to compete for China over the United States. Given Gu’s dual identity, joining Team China in the Winter Olympics held in Beijing to affirm her Chinese roots is understandable. In fact, her statement, “When I’m in the US, I’m American, but when I’m in China, I’m Chinese,” resonates with many other Chinese Americans. That said, this choice also has more than a whiff of opportunism about it.
As the extensive media coverage around Gu’s decision has noted, skiing for China opened for her a slew of lucrative endorsement deals with Chinese brands and businesses. Gu further monetized her athletic celebrity status, and these deals, especially ones from Chinese state entities like China Mobile and Bank of China, would not have been secured had she competed for the U.S.
All athletic stars, of course, try to leverage their sports fame for monetary gain. However, with the modeling work and endorsement deals from US brands she secured prior to the Beijing Olympics, Gu was already awash in money before opting to perform for China. How much better will the additional cash she’s now and will be raking in from Chinese sources enable her to live?
Moreover, while Gu casts her choice as an apolitical assertion of her Chinese heritage, this is certainly not how it’s being played in China. By opting for China over the US, Gu has given the Chinese government an enormous propaganda coup, bolstering its narrative of a rising People’s Republic vs. the declining U.S. A cornerstone of this narrative is Xi’s rejection of democracy.
Indeed, Gu literally rubbed shoulders with Xi, standing beside him at an event in Beijing a week before she chose to compete for China. In an interview with the Communist Party Central Commission for Discipline Inspection — Xi is using this group to purge his opponents in an “anti-corruption” campaign that has done little to limit rampant graft in the party and Chinese government — Gu called China her “homeland.” And, no, I will not join the “if she feels that way, let her stay in the People’s Republic” crowd: such a xenophobic cant only inflames rising hatred against Asians in general, and Chinese in particular, living in America.
However, it is galling that back in the US, Gu and her family have vocally supported Black Lives Matter and fought against xenophobic resentment vis-a-vis Chinese Americans. While all of this is commendable and deserves our applause, Gu surely knows, or ought to know, that such activism is not tolerated in China. Gu could speak out on the silencing of Peng Shuai and, in so doing, lend support to the growing Chinese “Me Too” movement, but doing that would jeopardize her lucrative Chinese endorsement deals.
Gu has also claimed on Instagram that it’s easy for Chinese people to dodge social media censorship and breach the great internet firewall by using vrtual private networks (VPNs). Say what? I went through five VPNs in my last five months of living in China — that, along with growing political repression, led me to end what had been an amazing 12-year (2005-16) China odyssey (unable to access Google, I couldn’t do my research work at an independent Chinese think tank dealing with China and economic globalization). Some mainland Chinese do have VPNs, despite government bans on their use by individuals. But those attempting to scale the internet firewall risk arrest and punishment, with this being especially true for the persecuted Uyghur minority.
Eileen Gu is a phenomenally gifted athlete. At the same time, she is either incredibly cynical in her shilling for Chinese brands or extremely naïve about the Chinese government and communist party, serving as a “useful idiot” for both, ignoring all while their awful human rights record. Having conquered the ski slopes, she now needs to improve her moral and political compass.
