China's sports authorities announced a major reform on Wednesday to allow athletes from the Chinese diaspora to compete in the upcoming Chinese National Games, in a bid to attract overseas athletes.
Chinese who have obtained foreign citizenship, descendants of Chinese immigrants and Chinese citizens who are residing abroad are now eligible to apply for the 13th Chinese National Games, said Li Yingchuan, vice minister of the China's General Administration of Sport (GAS), China Sports Daily reported.
"The decision is aimed at further enhancing the cohesion of the Chinese nation while fully utilizing the wisdom and strength of overseas Chinese for the domestic sports development," Li said at a Wednesday press conference in Beijing.
Overseas Chinese athletes are permitted to participate in all 26 competitive sports events in the national games, which will be held from August 27 to September 8 in Tianjin Municipality, according to Li.
This makes it possible for athletes like Alex Hua Tian, a London-based rider who renounced British citizenship to compete for China in the Olympic Games, to show up in the Chinese domestic national games.
Ren Hai, a professor from the Olympic Research Center with Beijing Sports University, told the Global Times that the reform would further strengthen the cultural bonding of overseas Chinese, while also enhancing China's soft power.
"Unlike politics, sport is a less controversial way to spread the influence of Chinese culture around the world," said Ren. Meanwhile, the reform is beneficial to exchanges between domestic and overseas athletes, Ren noted.
The organizers will set up a special committee to check the eligibility of the applicants, said Liu Xiaonong, director of the Competitive Sports Department of the GAS.
According to Liu, the overseas athletes who have Chinese citizenship can possibly be recruited for Chinese national team in preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games.
The reform also sparked controversy, with supporters saying it will inject new impetus into the national sports development, while skeptics complained that the inclusion of leading foreign athletes might dilute the game's intention.
"The purpose of the national games is to select top and talent athletes who can actually represent China at the global stage," said Ma Dexing, deputy editor of the Changsha-based newspaper Titan Sports.
The reform will allow leading athletes such as Lee Chong Wei, the famous Malaysian-Chinese badminton player who has been a main rival to Chinese athletes, to compete in the national games. However, Lee is unlikely to play for China in international games, said a Sina Weibo user.
