Gong Li's citizenship switch stirs outrage in China

BEIJING (AFP) – Chinese actress Gong Li's decision to become a Singapore citizen sparked an online debate in China Tuesday, with many branding her a traitor but others defending the star.

Gong, who served recently as a Chinese parliament delegate, collected her Singaporean citizenship over the weekend, a lawmaker in the city-state told AFP on Monday.

The move requires her to forsake her Chinese citizenship, and the decision triggered some fierce condemnation of the 43-year-old star of "Farewell My Concubine" and "Memoirs of a Geisha".

"All traitors will be nailed to history's mast of shame. We should resolutely reject any futher contact with such people," on person said in a chat forum on the popular portal Sohu.com.

Added another: "Traitors like this don't even love their own country. These people were only fake countrymen of ours. Let them slink off to other countries and die!"

The state-run Xinhua news agency said speculation that she was actively seeking foreign citizenship resulted in Gong being left off the list of delegates for the 2008 session of parliament earlier this year.

However, many people also expressed understanding for Gong's decision, noting the pressure such stars face in China, and making veiled criticisms of life in the communist country.

"Why doesn't anyone ask why people want to emigrate? We see one Chinese person after another take US citizenship," one person said on Sohu. "Why don't we see Americans taking Chinese citizenship?"

Another suggested that many of the critics would leap at the chance to emigrate like a moth to the flame.

"My compatriots, as you blab here, can you really say you love your country? Ask yourself, how many of you are not moths as well?"

The backlash comes after a spike in nationalist sentiments in China this year.

Those passions were partly triggered by Western criticism of a military crackdown on Tibetans following an uprising against Chinese rule in March.

Chinese Internet forums were then filled with anti-Western diatribes that the ruling Communist Party allowed to flourish.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081111/ts_af...re_081111065009

oh well, oh well.

oh well, oh well.

Singapore is another Chinese country. It doesn't make any different, at least in the foreigner eyes like me. Conglatulation Gong Li.

In the past there are so many atheletes who gave up Chinese citizenship and are now Singapore citizens.

just brush the haters off.

I think it's normal for them to feel betrayed, I know I would feel the same way too....

The point is that China should allow its citizens to have dual citizenship, that way Gong Li wouldn't have to quit her chinese citizenry to become a Singaporean, right?????

This is surprisingly, especially since China seems livable today. Maybe she doesn't want to live under a country that repress independent thought.

Or maybe it's because there's just more wealth to be made in Singapore.

For some countries, dual citizenship is more like having a mistress. chaos lifestyle.

hmmm what was her reason for wanting to be singaporean??

She's married to a Singaporean la......

She's married to a Singaporean la......

China has so many talents. No one cares about her, especially now she has long passed her prime.

China is used to having pretty girls marrying off to foreign nationals.

Most would like, well, what the heck, another piece of national treasurer got auctioned off to a foreign land.

dude she chose to be Singaporean, Singapore never paid her to become a Singaporean.. what do u mean she got auctioned off by China??? her husband works for British-American Tobacco company in HK, and he's Singaporean. If she wants to be Singaporean, why get so nationalistic over that personal decision? Man... chinese PRCs are too damn sensitive and nationalistc these days

In Japan when a Japanese woman marries a foreigner then she automatically loses her Japanese citizenship. So why single out China for bashing ????

A Japanese does not lose his or her citizenship if another citizenship is acquired involuntarlity. If a Japanese woman marries an Iranian man, she will automatically acquire his citizenship.[3] She will be allowed to be an Iranian-Japanese dual national, since the acquisition of the Iranian citizenship was involuntary.

"Auctioned off..." is just an off-handed light-hearted joke.

A Chinese sense of humor, and you can take it either way.

How does this constitute betrayal at all? For all the Chinese members reading this, where are you right now? Most of us are living in North America, with either a Canadian or American citizenship. Do you consider yourself a traitor to your roots?

See!

But also, if you were going to call Gong Li a traitor, I think it would have been more appropriate during the time she willingly took the role of a Japanese geisha.

Who cares.

From another perspective, Singapore has become more Chinese. It is unlikely a middle-aged born-and-raised Chinese lady Like Gong Li will lose her Chinese-ness.

What's the big deal?

becoming citizen of another country is not an act of treason/betrayal.

betrayal is something like selling off own country's confidential info to another country for own profit, in which the act causes her country to fall into the enemy's hand...

it's so common nowadays... nothing to do with betrayal, but freedom of choice.

Chinese people are too proud and pride is the most asinine trait

i love Gong Li, what she does outside the silver screen is none of my concern

She's good. Nice sturdy body.....

It's actually worrying to see the level of reaction going on with issues like this. Patriotism is fine, but extremism sure isn't. I hope the Chinese government realises this and do something about it.

Whatever, singapore is like an extension of china. Most singaporeans are chinese and the bulk of their civilization is influenced by china. If she was getting an australian or english citizenship then that would be a different story.

Singapore is like an extension of china? Purleeze... take your head out of your a.ss!

well the majority of singaporeans are chinese or have chinese blood. That you can't deny.

Lovely couple . I wonder if she gave it to him, probably did

Yes its true that the majority of Singaporeans see their race as being Chinese, but not their nationality and certainly not their loyalty. Culturally, Singaporean Chinese are different from "PRC" as they are termed in Singapore. In fact both groups don't really get along and don't really mix. Singaporeans are happy to "use" PRC's becasue they do the menial jobs that most Singaporeans refuse to do, while "PRC"s use Singapore becasue they work hard and compared to what they would earn in China make alot of money. But, Singaporean Chinese in reality by and large look down on "PRC"s because they see them as being "lower class"(becasue of the work they do), loud and rude. While PRC's look down on Singaporean Chinese because culturally they are not "really" Chinese any more.

Tanga, does Singapore allow dual citizenship?

no, SG does not allow dual citizenship, except maybe if u are an infant but up to 21 yrs u got to choose..

the picture of Gong Li and the guy.. that's not her SG chinese husband is it??? looks like a caucasian guy??

Jet li also become singaporean...

Thanks cuz my wife will have to decide if she wants Aust citizenship. If she can't have dual then she probably won't. She loves Singapore too much .

You can't naturalize in China.

The immigration system is not like America, Australia, Canada, Europe etc.

Gong Li is just changing her address singapore is just a part of greater china.

hm... Its normal wife changed her citizenship to her husband's citizenship

hahaha.. u are in Tehran??? seriously??? how's the riots and fight for justice going on??