Feb 20th 2012, 2:47 by G.E. | BEIJING
EARLY this morning—for viewers in China—the New York Knicks of the new Taiwanese-American hero Jeremy Lin played against the Dallas Mavericks and with them China’s current standard-bearer in the NBA: the 7-foot-tall Yi Jianlian, a high draft pick who has proven a disappointment in America. Mr Yi's Mavericks lost the game, 104-97, but the bigger loser was Chinese soft power.
Mr Lin has quickly amassed a huge following among Chinese basketball fans (and this country does love basketball). This poses a bit of a conundrum for Chinese authorities for a number of reasons. The most obvious is that Mr Lin is an American who is proudly of Taiwanese descent, which would seem to complicate China’s efforts to claim him (and oh how they have tried already—on which, more below).
But there are three other reasons Mr Lin’s stardom could fluster the authorities. First, he is very openly Christian, and the Communist Party is deeply wary of the deeply religious (notably on those within its own ranks). Second, he is not a big centre or forward, the varietals which are the chief mainland Chinese export to the NBA, including the Mavericks’ Mr Yi; and of course he came out of nowhere to become a star, having been educated at the most prestigious university in America, Harvard.
Mr Lin is, put plainly, precisely everything that China’s state sport system cannot possibly produce. If Mr Lin were to have been born and raised in China, his height alone might have denied him entry into China’s sport machine, as Time’s Hannah Beech points out: “Firstly, at a mere 6’3”—relatively short by basketball standards—Lin might not have registered with Chinese basketball scouts, who in their quest for suitable kids to funnel into the state sport system are obsessed with height over any individual passion for hoops.” Even when Mr Lin was still a young boy, one look at his parents, each of unremarkable stature, would have made evaluators sceptical. Ms Beech’s other half happens to be Brook Larmer, the author of the fascinating book “Operation Yao Ming”, which details how Chinese authorities contrived to create China’s most successful basketball star, Mr Yao, the product of tall parents who were themselves Chinese national basketball team players. The machine excels at identifying, processing and churning out physical specimens—and it does so exceedingly well for individual sports, as it will again prove in London this year. But it happens to lack the nuance and creativity necessary for team sport.
What of Mr Lin’s faith? If by chance Mr Lin were to have gained entry into the sport system, he would not have emerged a Christian, at least not openly so. China has tens of millions of Christians, and officially tolerates Christianity; but the Communist Party bars religion from its membership and institutions, and religion has no place in its sport model. One does not see Chinese athletes thanking God for their gifts; their coach and Communist Party leaders, yes, but Jesus Christ the Saviour? No.
Then there is the fact that Mr Lin’s parents probably never would have allowed him anywhere near the Chinese sport system in the first place. This is because to put one’s child (and in China, usually an only child at that) in the sport system is to surrender that child’s upbringing and education to a bureaucracy that cares for little but whether he or she will win medals someday. If Mr Lin were ultimately to be injured or wash out as an athlete, he would have given up his only chance at an elite education, and been separated from his parents for lengthy stretches, for nothing. (One must add to this the problem of endemic corruption in Chinese sport that also scares away parents—Chinese football referee Lu Jun, once heralded as the “golden whistle” for his probity, was sentenced to jail last week as part of a massive match-fixing scandal). Most Chinese parents, understandably, prefer to see their children focus on schooling and exams.
In America, meanwhile, athletic excellence actually can open doors to an elite education, through scholarships and recruitment. Harvard does not provide athletic scholarships, but it does recruit players who also happen to be academic stars. There is no real equivalent in China.
So China almost certainly has its own potential Jeremy Lin out there, but there is no path for him to follow. This also helps explain, as we have noted, why China fails at another sport it loves, football. Granted, Mr Lin’s own path to stardom is in itself unprecedented, but in America, the unprecedented is possible. Chinese basketball fans have taken note of this. Mr Lin’s story may be a great and inspiring proof of athleticism to the Chinese people, but it is also unavoidably a story of American soft power.
Some authorities in China have responded, as might be expected, by trying to appropriate Mr Lin. The Chinese city of Pinghu, in coastal Zhejiang Province, sent a missive to its recently remembered former resident, Mr Lin’s grandmother on his mother’s side; officials crowed that she was pleased by the attention her hometown is paying to her grandson’s success. Xinhua, China’s official news service, published a fanciful article urging Mr Lin to take Chinese citizenship and join the national team of the People’s Republic.
Mr Lin’s Taiwanese family background seems to pose a special problem. China Central Television (CCTV), the national monopoly that broadcasts NBA games, has not joined in Linsanity. A game featuring Mr Lin a week ago, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, was broadcast on Beijing TV’s sport channel, but the broadcast included the forbidden image of the Taiwanese national flag, held proudly by fans in the stands. (The flag is typically blurred in China if it must appear in news footage). Chinese netizens noticed, and wondered if that would bring a punishment, or a tape delay. CCTV, for its part, told Netease, a Chinese internet portal, that most Knicks games couldn’t be shown due to the “time difference”, “but if time allows, games of the Knicks will definitely be broadcasted preferentially.”
That remains to be seen. Fortunately for Chinese sport fans, the internet provides a ready-made alternative to the state television system. Most of Mr Lin’s games are being made available by live stream on the portal Sina.com. This morning’s game against Mr Yi’s Mavericks was a rather interesting exception, a mysterious little black hole on Sina.com’s NBA schedule. Frustrated Chinese fans had to go looking for dodgier streams elsewhere online. What they found was a closely fought game between the two teams, with Mr Lin again starring and leading the Knicks to victory. More poignantly, they found their countryman, Mr Yi, remain on the bench for the entire game, reduced to the role of spectator. It was a glimpse of the Chinese sport system versus American soft power. Perhaps it was not fit for viewing.
(Picture credit: AFP)
In this blog, our Asia correspondents and our Banyan columnist provide comment and analysis on Asia's political and cultural landscape. The blog takes its name from the Banyan tree, under which Buddha attained enlightenment and Gujarati merchants used to conduct business
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So typical of Banyan, it feels good that they move you to blogs instead of part of the Economist doesn't it? :)
I've collected the best Jeremy Lin moments in one continuous video channel - Linsanity: http://www.shortform.com/ghaffari/linsanity/
This article reads like Moneyball.
Mainlanders and trolls alike claim
Jeremy Lin is Chinese.
Both can easily be discredited by
the following:
Jeremy Lin is a devout Christian.
A religion persecuted in China
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/10/shouwang-church-arrests-beji...
http://blog.beliefnet.com/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars/files/2...
So, just out of the blue: Are you going to root for or arrest him?
In fact, Mainlanders would not consider an ethnic Chinese
from a Latin American or Caribbean country as Chinese
Most Mainlanders would look down at them as not being Chinese.
For instance, Cuba has lots of ethnic Chinese (see links)
http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/chinatown-havana-cub432.jpg
Is she Chinese?
http://tommyimages.com/Stock_Photos/Caribbean/Cuba/Barrio_Chino/slides/C...
How about her?
http://tommyimages.com/Stock_Photos/Caribbean/Cuba/Barrio_Chino/slides/C...
How about this gentleman?
http://tommyimages.com/Stock_Photos/Caribbean/Cuba/Barrio_Chino/slides/C...
Bottom Line: If you claim Jeremy Lin is "Chinese", you would
have to include all of the above and then some as "Chinese"
also. Are you guys willing to do that?!?!
Just as Taiwan is not China. Neither is Jeremy Lin Chinese中國人 )
(
how can not Taiwan belong to the mainland?
"In fact, Mainlanders would not consider an ethnic Chinese中國人 ."
from a Latin American or Caribbean country as Chinese
Well if some mainlanders choose to discriminate then that's their problem. Of course ethnically Chinese people from Latin America, including all of the pictures you listed, should be considered 'Chinese' if so desired.
Seriously stop with your pathetic whining. Crying like a 12 year old DPP member everywhere isn't going to change anything whatsoever...
Also every picture you listed was people of MIXED race rather than 100% Han Chinese. Whether Chinese people consider mixed race people 'Chinese' is a completely separate matter. Basically you're trying to an straw man argument here.
Also you assumed a false premise in order to obtain your conclusion so your conclusion of 'Just as Taiwan is not China. Neither is Jeremy Lin Chinese' is also WRONG.
But you 12 year old DPP card carriers were never ones for logic....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies
Also even if Jeremy Lin is Taiwanese rather than Chinese it says nothing about whether Taiwan is a part of China.
Wow you are seriously not capable of ANY logic...
@台灣 獨立 就是好 1 hour 36 mins ago
Your extraordinary devotion, love and patriotism to China by writing your penname in Chinese are impressive.
I am not reporting you for 'not in english', but it’s against the comment code of the editor.
and just like you said 'Chinese Taipei' is not PRC (don't deny it, I saw with my own eyes you taiwanese waved 'Chinese Taipei' flags in Taiwan), Lin is no taiwanese, he is 100% all american. ask him, he will tell tou.
Yes, but...
Don't forget Lin got cut by two NBA teams. And he ended up at Harvard after colleges with more high-profile basketball programs weren't interested in him. So even in America people who don't fit the mould (see: "Moneyball") get overlooked.
This is ultimately a story not about two systems, but a kid who doesn't fit in either refusing to give up.
Modern Trollia:
Thanks for your point about selling paper being 100% of TE's motivation.
While I wouldn't be all the way so naive as to expect even 1% of any newspaper's motivation to be about bringing the world harmoniously together, there does exist a breed of journalists who believe in, and practice by, a standard of ethics in their trade.
I am very disppointed that the author of the present Banyan an article would stoop so low, even as what he/she is doing is help TE sell itself. In @nkab's more eloquent words than mine:
...But what’s most unforgivable of this article is Banyan’s use, abuse really , of a rising sport star sensation, a totally innocent third party of the matter, to advance its political agenda whatever that is.
Don’t they have any bottom line code of conduct in this line of journalism anymore? (italics and bold mine)
You can endlessly tell TE its readers expect better journalistic standard from it. I guess I will just conclude that each unto its own. The is such a thing as community reputation. It matters. This Banyan piece sounds like it had come straight from a female Limbaugh's mouth.
As to the China-TW issue, I actually agree with your assessment for the most part. Some well-researched, fair and balanced articles recently and finally came out. That is why the disappointment on this Banyan piece is so severe.
I also want to state again for the record: I am neither pro-Taiwan nor pro-China. I am an "independant", if you will. Facts, sense and fainess appeal to me. Myth, nonsense and hectoring do not. I don't want trolls to latch on to me and argue their stuff. I will not engage no matter what tricky straws they fabricate and innuendos they offer up. Trolling is not my recreation.
I am incensed when Chinese people, wherever and whoever they are, are maligned, regardless of their political affiliation. I do not make a living out of being a politician. I am equally disturbed when Chinese people, as individual persons, exhibit the same bad behaviors I condemn in whites, blacks, red, green, orange and purple.
I hope my position is clear. I have saved this comment on my desk top for republication where necessary.
Well TE is a for-profit business, so if even a single % of its motivation is something other than to maximize profit, then the CEO is doing a poor job. Some businesses donates money to charity, but those are usually PR stunts in order to maximize profit. (For example Barclays Capital donates 2% of all profit to charity, but it knows that the positive PR generated will result in a more business and a more-than-extra 2% profit.)
"Don’t they have any bottom line code of conduct in this line of journalism anymore?"
TE maintains its high journalistic standards and usually low-biased opinions because it allows TE to capture the high-intellect segment of the newspaper market. But hypothetically if TE could degrade itself into TMZ and make more money then it will.
But yes I agree with the rest of your post.
Thank you, Modern. I appreciate your reply.
Again, you explained for me, or rather, emphasized so I don't forget, the point on "for- profit business". I tend to overlook that piece in the mix. I need to remember and put things in perspective when I am critical of the paper.
I hope, though, TMZ will never be the target to shoot for no matter how bad things (I mean their profit) get for TE. I really don't mind paying more for the subscription if the bottom line is about $$.
Thanks again. I have enjoyed reading this post from you, as well as others where there is no silly stuff, even if defensive. :)
Another articles filled with stereotypes, innuendo and propaganda. OK, I'll bite:
1. "“Firstly, at a mere 6’3”—relatively short by basketball standards—Lin might not have registered with Chinese basketball scouts" - Are all Chinese basketball players 6'10+? Amazing, basketball courts filled with giants!
2. "...it happens to lack the nuance and creativity necessary for team sport." - interesting innuendo...how about women's soccer, field hockey, volleyball...heck curling. But these don't fit your hypothesis, so lets ignore them. Creativity: ice skating, gymnastic, heck sync swimming...
3. "...given up his only chance at an elite education, and been separated from his parents for lengthy stretches, for nothing. " Could you site your source or does that just neatly fit your evil-communist-chinese hypothesis?
4. "...There is no real equivalent in China." Yes, apples-to-apples: America 1 (J. Lin)*, China *0*. That's definitive, lets close the book and call it a day.
5. "once heralded as the “golden whistle” for his probity, was sentenced to jail last week as part of a massive match-fixing scandal)" Please google "nba referee scandal" and read up and update your article and provide an evil-capitalist-greed spin.
6. "Some authorities in China have responded, as might be expected, by trying to appropriate Mr Lin. The Chinese city of Pinghu,". I guess the Irish "authorities" were also trying to appropriate Reagan (and, of course, Kennedy's) ancestry. Where's the article on that? Where are Lin's grandparents from?
Take your racist, politic-driven sh*t somewhere else.
"Take your racist, politic-driven sh*t somewhere else."
It's bias rather than racism. Crying racism when there is none usually discredits what you're saying even if the rest of what you're saying deserves credit.
You need to calm down my friend. None of these statements are innuendo, propaganda, or stereotypes. He is simply pointing out differences and if any judgment is made, it is done by the reader. He acknowledges that the Chinese sports system has excelled in certain ways, (see prediction of Olympic success in 2012 in 4th paragraph). But, simply because he doesn't point out the Western or capitalist analogue to every observation, doesn't make this a propaganda piece.
Similarly, you take the author to task for not citing sources, (i.e. your third point, even though I do not think that it is ridiculous to assert that an injury in a state sport system lowers one opportunity to receive education elsewhere) yet you fail to check the sources yourself. In the first point, you sarcastically remark that a basketball game is filled with giants. However, if you actually clicked the link that the author included, you'd see that the Chinese national team has no starting player shorter that 6'7. This method of choosing height over other intangibles is exactly the kind of difference between American and Chinese philosophies that the author is honing in on. Your motivation to find politic-driven sh*t has unfortunately left you incapable to see what was accurately presented.
I may not be an expert on Sino-Taiwanese relations, but I do know my basketball. Unfortunately, Jeremy Lin's chance of making it in China would be even more remote than it was for him to make it in the NBA.
You need to calm down my friend. None of these statements are innuendo, propaganda, or stereotypes. He is simply pointing out differences and if any judgment is made, it is done by the reader. He acknowledges that the Chinese sports system has excelled in certain ways, (see prediction of Olympic success in 2012 in 4th paragraph). But, simply because he doesn't point out the Western or capitalist analogue to every observation, doesn't make this a propaganda piece.
Similarly, you take the author to task for not citing sources, (i.e. your third point, even though I do not think that it is ridiculous to assert that an injury in a state sport system lowers one opportunity to receive education elsewhere) yet you fail to check the sources yourself. In the first point, you sarcastically remark that a basketball game is filled with giants. However, if you actually clicked the link that the author included, you'd see that the Chinese national team has no starting player shorter that 6'7. This method of choosing height over other intangibles is exactly the kind of difference between American and Chinese philosophies that the author is honing in on. Your motivation to find politic-driven sh*t has unfortunately left you incapable to see what was accurately presented.
I may not be an expert on Sino-Taiwanese relations, but I do know my basketball. Unfortunately, Jeremy Lin's chance of making it in China would be even more remote than it was for him to make it in the NBA.
Seeing as how this article will soon be taken over by the mainland and DPP trolls, I'll just quickly and preemptively offer a logical scenario to the TW-mainland dispute.
-------
EVERY country in the world, along with both the ROC and PRC governments, recognizes one China, but also recognizes TW's de-facto but not official independence.
The 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis was caused by PRC belligerence, so America sent its warships into the region to maintain the status quo. If the ROC declares independence, then the ROC will be the belligerent one and will receive little to none international support for their cause.
Also America today is broke, and the PRC is approximately 9x richer than it was in 1996 and has developed military capabilities to counter American carriers, so you would have to be really delusional to expect that America would go to war against its second largest and soon-to-be-largest trading partner over Taiwan. If America won't even sell you F-16s why do you expect them to go to war over you?
Chances are the PRC will never forcibly invade TW because such a move would be highly unpopular in the mainland, so the Taiwanese can have all the de-facto independence they want, but breaking the status quo would be very detrimental to their own interests.
-------
Now I know you 16 year old DPP trolls who are incapable of logical thought and incapable of realizing facts are still going to troll this article, but really you're just wasting 100% of your time. Might as well join the KMT and be happy with your de-facto independence and focus on your own economic development rather than crying for something you cannot achieve under any realistic scenario.
Dragging Jeremy's good name into discussions about Sino-Taiwanese relations and the flaws of Chinese government adds nothing relevant to the narrative and only serves to fuel further strife among Chinese and Taiwanese Lin fans. Using Jeremy Lin's name to take pot shots at China just seems cheap and contrived.
This article is meant to provoke and provoke it did. It pointed out clearly the "Chinsanity" of Chinese politics and even parts of Chinese society. The obvious point made in the article is the hypocritical and the defensive/offensive Orwellian tone used by China (and many Chinese people) when it comes to ethnic/racial issues (not to mention Tibetan and Uighurs!) There is probably a simple Freudian explanation for this somewhat schizophrenic behaviour, I suppose. Hopefully it doesn't turn into some kind of racial/ethnic superiority/inferiority complex. Human history had enough examples of that sort of thing and there are 1.3 billion Han Chinese!
It is truly sad that the world is generally ashamed to mention the name Jesus, or Christ in public.
The bible is the world's most printed book, and the name Jesus is most heard of in songs of praise and courage than any other name in print since the printing press was invented and music recorded. The bible also the only book translated in every language of the world and in large numbers. Every book store, library has the bible.
Christianity has become associated with science, progresss and civilization, rule of law etc.
The Kings James version of the bible is the most accurate translation into English from Greek and Hebrew "'Original texts" are preserved in the British Museum and the Alexandra Museum for anyone to check. Those words are sentences that the translators found difficult to translate, they have the words in ITALICS for the reader to know that they are not sure how to translate the words. For example Matthew 28:1 is in italics reads the "first day of the week." The corrects translation should be "first of a new series of sabbaths." Same with Hebrews 1:2 where the correct translation shoud be God spoke to us by "Son" (Jesus is the language of God) but the pronoun 'his' in italics is inseted before Son to read 'his Son" to inform the reader that the K.J. translators were not sure how to make sense by not inserting his before "Son." There are 100's and 100's of such words in italics.
Jeremy Lin one of a long list of people who had the courage of their convictions to declare their faith openly. Many black American so that. We had the dissidents in Russia etc who were put in prison for their convictions (Alexander Solzhenisten, etc) The name Jesus will be with us till Jesus returns again. In Islam Jesus is respectfully called Isu, Masiha,Yeshu but never as Lord, Messiah, Savior, God etc. Islam makes Jesus a "prophet," and Hollywood make Jesus a 'Superstar.' The bible clearly declares him to be God, Lord. If Jesus was not God, he could not have done what is humanly impossible, and all that is recorded in the bible. Both the old and new testamen together is a historical document as well as a spiritual book. From the bible we get accurate dates of the time of creation, the time of the flood, the time of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt etc. etc.
http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=6401
Straight facts
Jeremy Lin was born in the US and his parents are TAIWANESE
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2012/02/17/2003525670
He qualifies for dual citizenship (adding Taiwan as his second Citizenship).
When someone says: "I am proud to be Chinese" it means the ethnicity not
necessarily China as a country. In Mandarin, one specificy the country in
more exact terms. Whereas English is a more broad language in that it does
not specify origin in greater detail as in Mandarin.
So, Jeremy Lin is a TAIWANESE American proud of his heritage, and it that
case Taiwan (to closest his roots as an American come from).
But your reasoning only makes sense if you assume that Taiwan and the mainland are two separate countries. However the ROC claims that there is only one China, and that the ROC is the legitimate ruler of all of China. (which is a claim that most rational people hope that the ROC will realize one day)
So by the ROC's own reasoning, Mr. Lin is a CHINESE American. So maybe you should complain to your own government and try to change their claims before claiming that Mr. Lin is Taiwanese but not Chinese?
K thanks...
Also Mr. Lin is 100% AMERICAN and probably does not concern himself much with your TW-mainland squabbles. In AMERICA, all ethically Chinese are considered 'Chinese' and the ethnically Chinese are usually grouped into the 'Asian' category.
So please keep your squabbles contained to your side of the world; America wants none of it; thanks...
(Taiwan is not China)
Can you read English? The Taipei times says he is Taiwanese.
His heritage is TAIWANESE AMERICAN just like Christine Fan
is also TAIWANESE AMERICAN.
But the ROC claims that Taiwan is merely a small part of all of China and that Taipei is a temporary capital for all of China.
So according to the ROC Mr. Lin is CHINESE American.
So please go argue with your own government before claiming factually erroneous things on the Internet.
Also just FYI, even though to the best of my knowledge Mr. Lin has not professed any political preference in TW (he probably concerns himself with AMERICAN politics instead since he was born in AMERICA), IMO he seems a lot more KMT-like than DPP-like.
Among the ignorant, maybe.
No it's almost always only the Asians who differentiate Asian from Asian. To just about everyone else Asians are all just Asians.
You can say the same thing for whites, blacks, hispanics, and every ethnicity.
So you either have to label all Americans as ignorant or accept the fact that there are too many heritages in America so most Americans do the practical thing and just generalize them into a general racial category.
Different parts of the states, maybe. Here in San Diego we have unique and insulting stereotypes for each and every group, and most people I know will consider the differences important. I hang out with relatively smart people, but even so, acting like all Asians are the same or have the same culture annoys me instantly. Then again, you're a troll.
Well San Diego is obviously an exception that is full of Asians...
Good thing I (mostly) don't still live in the US so I don't have to stereotype huh?
Yeah, you're probably right in general. A quick google reveals that CA has 1/3 of the countries Asians. Jesus.
Screw it, why should I care either? They're all Chinese from here on out.
Soon or later, the Alien transformers will come to claim Lin. I believe the author of this article has achieved its goal to draw many viewers to voice out their opinions. They just want more viewers from internet like you and me. Just let Lin be Lin and the best NBA player.
I guess the most interesting part is the censorship of Chinese media system, trying to block Taiwanese flags shown on TV. I just don't understand what the "soft power" this flag of Taiwanese flag can bring to China since China is such a powerful nation.
Alright TE/ America media in general, you've dragged religion into politics, women's rights into politics (again), marriage into politics. Now sports, seriously? Why does everything have to be political? Can anyone answer this...I don't get it, Canada doesn't do this...
And as for this article, might I remind the author that Lin was never given a chance? He got to play because one of the other players had an injury, if it weren't for that. The "American Sport System" wouldn't have discovered him, so boasting about how America's is better than China's...hello?! You didn't intentionally seek out an Asian player! Not a good comparison.
This article is also a cheap shot at which political system is better, sorry but a sport system does not indicate which system is better. Shouldn't which system produce the most educated minds be?
PS. TE, please find another writer with less biases and more common sense! This writer is living in his/her own world... @.@
Sorry I didn't know that TE was actually supposed to be ESPN.
If you want to read about Mr. Lin in a non-political manner go on www.ESPN.com
Every story should be seen under a broader context to truly understand it. Desire to keep your views limited to the primary and not to the secondary or tertiary stunts any type of serious discussion.
Also, to say Jeremy Lin only got his chance to play because of injury is a slap in the face to the hard work he put in to reach that position. Luck and opportunities are the byproducts of hard work and perseverance.
..
TO BE SURE--- the US Sports Industry attracts the best of BIG MEGA bucks $$$$$$$ for the successful
AND dont forget the fame that goes wit it
We dont think anybody is disputing that the WEstern sports system succeeds BECAUSE of the BIG MONEY $$$$$$ Involved
A poor kid from the Ghetto can become a multi-millionaire overnight--- and the fame and the girls and the Ferarri that goes with that
SURELY-- It doesnt take a genius to figure that out
That begs the question -- why do the TE takes the readers for fools sometimes--- like this time
..
...
Come the day when China's Soccer League / NBA can afford to dish out millions $$$$$ as salaries --- then let's see the sheer amount of talents suddenly emerging out of the countryside
Dont meed rocket-science to figure this want out
Dissappointed!
This article is a cheap shot. Banyan must be running out of topics or basic ethics in its China bashing job. Still that’s OK to me because Banyan is arguable doing its job at the Economist here regardless of views expressed.
But what’s most unforgivable of this article is Banyan’s use, abuse really, of a rising sport star sensation, a totally innocent third party of the matter, to advance its political agenda whatever that is.
Don’t they have any bottom line code of conduct in this line of journalism anymore?
Banyan has a political agenda? Ahh yes he must work for the CIA or is a Taiwanese wanting independence...
----
(He might have a pro-American or pro-Western bias, but any rational observer would agree that he probably does not have a political agenda.)
We Americans love Lin and apparently so do our Pacific neighbors in China.
As a newsflash, we'd love him just as much if he happened to be a Chinese citizen playing basketball in the US and we love him because he's an American of Taiwanese descent.
Quite frankly, we love him because he plays great ball.
Can we just stop trying to divide ourselves and making something out of a nonissue? He's a proud member of humankind. We should just be happy and accept him.
"Can we just stop trying to divide ourselves and making something out of a nonissue? "
To you it's a nonissue but to most mainlanders and Taiwanese it is an issue.
Right on.
I think the Chinese fan (including Taiwanese) love him for exactly the same reason as you do. Yao Ming carries some special meaning to Chinese fans IMO, but we love for example Kobe Bryant, Yi Jianlian,... for exactly the same reason too.
Long live the Lin.
Can we just stop trying to divide ourselves and making something out of a nonissue? He's a proud member of humankind.
Precisely the point.
If I were Lin, I would tell everybody to stop using me to fan and flame any and all political issues as catch their fancy. There should be a law against that. It does't matter who does it - Taiwan, China or a newspaper. But TE appears to be in the habit of sowing seeds for discord on all things related to Taiwan and China. I never understood this paper's motivation. I had thought their journalistic standard would improve to incorporate objective and balanced reporting when they hired a new head at the Beijing Bureau. For a while, articles did appear to take that direction. This one took the paper down to the nadir again. A shame.
Well TE is a newspaper and TE will write about stuff that it thinks people want to read; hence how newspapers make money. 100% of TE's motivation for operating is to make as much money as possible, and none of its motivation is to bring the world harmoniously together.
If TE stopped writing articles such as this one then I would probably stop reading TE...
(I personally think that TE has been mostly unbiased on the China-TW issue.)
it is really a tragedy for Chinese kids who have dreams to become a professional athletes.My classmates also met with this problem. They had to choose between schooling and training. Therefore, teachers teaching maths, English or other key subjects see PE teachers as their enemies. They think these teachers are ruining potential students who may have excellent marks in exams. Frequently teachers will telephone parents to urge them to guide their children. so few of my classmates would stick to what they like.
Are you kidding me? Calling him Taiwanese-American only? Have you not heard him in his interviews saying, and I quote: "I am proud to be Chinese". I didn't know the Economist blatantly disregarded facts. Here, try to ignore this video of him actually saying it out loud another time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXOOsZ9q9Rc
You can call him Taiwanese too, but there is no way you can say that he is not Chinese also. By doing what you did, you have not only wronged the Chinese people, but also Jeremy Lin himself.
This article is not discussing what he feels he is or what anyone else thinks he is. This article is simply making a comparison between the system in which he was raised and eventually became what he is today, with another system which would like to claim him for itself.
This article is not about ethnicity or nationality, its about education, upbringing and state intervention in these matters.