[外電]Taiwan, China both try claiming Lin?
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/jeremy-lin-new-york-knicks-taiwan-china-both-try-laying-claim-to-sensation-021512
Updated Feb 15, 2012 6:24 PM ET
Though most are just content to watch basketball phenomenon Jeremy Lin play,
the Taiwanese-American's performance over the past two weeks has led both
Chinese and Taiwanese to lay claim to the Knicks point guard, opening up a
debate in social and traditional media about just who the Harvard graduate
represents in Asia.
In Taiwan, American influence looms large and the island has its own
professional basketball and baseball leagues. But the interest in those
sports has often outstripped the island's ability to produce internationally
recognized talent.
Unsurprisingly, when an exceptional player with Taiwan ties like Lin comes
along, the Taiwanese are quick to hold him up as a Taiwanese hero.
It would be an understatement to say Taiwan has a bad case of "Linsanity."
Lin has been on the front page of every major Taiwan newspaper and local
malls have taken to broadcasting Knicks games in public spaces.
Not to be bested, supporters in mainland China have also gone wild, and as of
Wednesday Lin had more than a million fans on the Chinese microblogging site
Weibo. Chinese television stations have also covered his rise extensively,
albeit with occasional edits that blur out references to Taiwan.
Though Taiwan has de facto sovereignty, most of its population are ethnically
Chinese and China continues to claim Taiwan as a part of China and has not
ruled out the use of force to take the island.
As a result, China often uses its influence to make sure Taiwan does not
signal in any way that it is an independent country and thus teams from
Taiwan are often forced to play under confusing euphemisms, like Chinese
Taipei in international competitions.
Lin's father's family has been in Taiwan for several generations, while his
grandmother emigrated from Zhejiang, China, during the Chinese civil war. Lin
was born and raised in the US.
Lin has thus far managed to steer clear of controversy by giving a nod to
both his Taiwan and Chinese heritage, but if history is any guide, Lin's
politicization is unlikely to stop there.
In 2010 a controversy broke out over Taiwanese female golf prodigy and
current No. 1 ranked Yani Tseng, who local media reported rejected an offer
of $25 million from a Chinese company to change her citizenship from Taiwan
to China.
In a recent interview Lin gave a nod to Taiwan saying, "I love going to
Taiwan and I'm going to be there every summer, so to all the Taiwanese fans I
can't wait to see them again this summer."
Eric Chang, an avid NBA fan and Taiwanese American living in Taiwan, said
beyond the Chinese "haters" who debate Lin's heritage, more important is what
Lin is doing for Asian-Americans in the US.
"Asian-American males are generally underrepresented in professional US
sports, and he's smashing down those barriers," he said.
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