China censors Olympic skier Eileen Gu’s comments on dealing with Chinese censorship, Gu attacked for complicity

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The Chinese government censored a screenshot of Eileen Gu’s response on Instagram to a comment regarding the use of virtual private networks to get around Chinese censorship. 

Key Players

Eileen Gu is a Chinese American skier who competed for China in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, despite being born in San Francisco. She won two gold medals for China in the freestyle skiing halfpipe and big air events and a silver medal for slopestyle. She has been accepted to study at Stanford University in the fall of 2022. 

China is known for its strict internet censorship laws. Through its Great Firewall, a combination of laws and technology, the country bans Instagram and other social media sites, limits access to foreign news sources, and requires foreign companies to adhere to Chinese law. 

Further Details

Controversy was swift after Gu decided to compete for China instead of the United States. She has also often been criticized for refusing to discuss politics or speak out against China’s widely condemned human rights abuses. 

Additionally, there have been questions surrounding Gu’s citizenship, as China does not recognize dual nationality. No official records are publicly available of Gu renouncing her American citizenship, The New York Times reported. Gu often dodges the question when asked, causing many to speculate that she has been granted an exception to the Chinese rule. 

The Chinese government has glorified Gu as a national hero, but some critics view her as opportunistic and unrelatable to millions of Chinese people, given certain privileges she enjoys that many in China do not, Protocol reported. For instance, Gu has an account on Instagram, which, due to the Great Firewall, is not an option for ordinary Chinese citizens, as is the case with Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp. 

Amid the Winter Olympics, she ignited further outrage after advocating for the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to get around China’s censorship, sparking debate among the Chinese public about the special treatment she was receiving from the government. 

In a post on Feb. 4, 2022, an Instagram user pointed out Gu’s particular privilege. “Why can you use Instagram and millions of Chinese people from mainland cannot,” the user wrote, “why you got such special treatment as a Chinese citizen. That’s not fair, can you speak up for those millions of Chinese who don’t have internet freedom.”

Gu replied promptly to the comment, “Anyone can download a vpn, it’s literally free on the app store,” she wrote. Shortly after she won her first gold medal for China, a screenshot of her response trended on the Chinese social media site Weibo, Protocol reported. 

While some Weibo users applauded Gu’s efforts to defend “the motherland,” others criticized the athlete’s privileged obliviousness, NextShark reported. One Weibo user condemned Gu’s comments as naive. “Literally,” the user wrote, “I’m not ‘anyone.’ Literally, it’s legal for me to use a VPN. Literally, it’s not fucking free at all.” 

Although Chinese citizens do use VPNs, the government officially banned their use to get around the Great Firewall, blocking many VPN services and punishing citizens who use them. In November 2021, the Chinese government introduced potential rules that would ban providers of tools like VPNs from using them to evade the Great Firewall, Protocol reported. 

The Chinese government took down the screenshot of Gu’s comment on Weibo, after it had attracted nearly 4,000 shares and 1,000 comments, replacing it with a blank placeholder image, NextShark reported.   

Outcome

Badiucao criticizes Gu on Twitter 

Chinese dissident artist and activist Badiucao posted a screenshot of Gu’s Instagram comment on his Twitter account, criticizing her response. 

“There r people in China arrested n sentenced simply for using vpn to read news from west media or tweet their opinion. But Eileen Gu just brashes away all the brutal reality for ordinary Chinese and easily slide into CCP’s propaganda. What a shame ! so privileged like a 外宾,” he tweeted. 

Petition demands Stanford University revoke Gu’s admission 

A group of “people who love America,” mostly parents of prospective college students, published a petition on Change.org urging Stanford University to revoke Gu’s admission. 

The petition claimed that an athlete at Gu’s level would “detrimentally influence the opinions of young people globally,” and that Gu sets a “bad example” by “supporting and advocating propaganda from the Chinese Communist Party, the world’s most powerful communist dictatorship.” 

It also said, “As one of the most prestigious universities in America and the world, we hope Stanford values our American constitution and freedom. … Unfortunately, Ms. Gu’s behavior does not align with Stanford’s reputation and its motto ‘Die Luft der Freiheit weht’ (often translated as ‘The wind of freedom blows’),” the petition declared.

As of March 4, 2022, the petition had 6,589 signatures.