2nd All star Returns in

Horry4theWin · Jan 2, 2013

Rox>Mavs said: ↑

Going back to Lin, he's polarizing because China will claim him as their own, Taiwan will claim him as their own, Asian Americans will claim him as their own, and Christians will claim him as their own.....creating one hot mess of a debate. I don't think Lin has pigeon holed himself as anyone one of these....he's an NBA player when he's on the court who happens to be all of those things.
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That's interesting because I've never seen Christians proclaim him as one of their own as to divide him from his ethnic heritage. People can keep both their faith and culture, just like there are Korean-American, Vietnamese-American, Filipino-American, Mexican-American Christians, etc or the many Black/White athletes who proclaim their love for God and Jesus. Faith transcends those cultural and racial differences and is generally supposed to be bring people together collectively regardless of race but that's not to say those ethnic/race issues don't exist.

Now the Chinese vs Taiwanese thing is obviously more sensitive due to politics, but the way Lin addresses that topic is very politically correct and I think your spot on with addressing the "hate" issue.

Going back to his ethnic background and religion, Lin has already shown he can be both as his family attends the Chinese Christian Church in Mountain View, CA and his pastor is Chinese-American, which also isn't anything different from the various ethnic groups that have their own Christian churches. He's also shared his religious views with other Asian-Americans through Youtube.

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pcheung08 · Jan 2, 2013

Rox>Mavs said: ↑

Sorry I know this thread is about the all star ballot, but i feel it necessary to respond to this line of thinking as I believe it to be inaccurate. I think it's deeply irresponsible to say that "China hates all people associated with Taiwan". If anyone takes the time to understand the history of the division between China and Taiwan and the current political issues associated with the two, it's not accurate to say China hates Taiwan. The Chinese governments stance is that Taiwan belongs to China while Taiwan maintains the stance that it's sovereign and independent. How can you "hate" something you deeply believe is part of you?

Chinese people therefore (being educated by Chinese media) don't hate Taiwan, but finds the notion of people from Taiwan thinking that they are not "Chinese" offensive. Maybe like asking someone, "are you American" and them responding, "no I'm a Texan". To most people outside of Texas, they would find that offensive but most people outside Texas understand not all Texans think that way.

My wife is Taiwanese and we've both been to mainland China multiple times to teach in various universities. We've led teams of people (many of whom call themselves Taiwanese-Americans). When they ask any of them where they are from, it's politically correct to say my parents are from "Taiwan" instead of saying "I'm Taiwanese or Taiwanese-American". When Chinese people hear this, they ask "So you're Chinese then"....meaning they just want to know you identify yourself as Chinese....not distinctly Taiwanese.

I've also spent about 15 years in various Chinese specific churches and organizations where there is a strong contingent of Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants. Unless they're talking politics regarding Taiwan's independence, there usually isn't any bad blood between the two cultures.

To use the word "hate" or that China (in general) feels that way about "ALL people" is way overboard....it's a political issue that as with any political issue has a range of opinions from different people.

Going back to Lin, he's polarizing because China will claim him as their own, Taiwan will claim him as their own, Asian Americans will claim him as their own, and Christians will claim him as their own.....creating one hot mess of a debate. I don't think Lin has pigeon holed himself as anyone one of these....he's an NBA player when he's on the court who happens to be all of those things.

*On a side note, in general there are three "T's" you don't want to argue about in China (Taiwan's sovereignty, Tibet's sovereignty, and Tiananmen Square).
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this +1. if people really want to use the word "hate", its Taiwan hates China more than the other way around.

And I have watched a few Rockets game in CCTV5 and Canton Sport TV (both from China). If all of China hates anything associated with Taiwan or Taiwanese, why they broadcast the Rockets games?

Horry4theWin · Jan 2, 2013

rocketsfan4 said: ↑

Thanks for your response. Maybe things are changing, and I will stand corrected if I am wrong. I am judging by my interactions with folks from China who have repeatedly told me these things over the years (including multiple women from China that I dated). Perhaps the younger generation can get over the political bs.
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Simply put, just like there are people in the USA who think Lin is overrated, overpaid, and only got hype because he was Asian, I'm sure there's some sort of sentiment towards Lin in China from some people as well that don't believe he's as good. Actually I remember hearing that some Chinese fans thought Liu Wei, starting PG of the Chinese National Team and Yao's Sharks teammate, was better than Lin before Linsanity happened.

Lin is still a relatively new player that burst onto the scene, and frankly some Chinese fans voting for Chris Paul may be voting for him, not because they necessarily hate Lin ,but because they simply just like Paul more especially since he has played in the NBA much longer. Just like Nash gaining votes, even when he's been injured most of the season, probably got some of his votes from China as well especially since he's Kobe's teammate.

rn_xw · Jan 3, 2013

khfxxx said: ↑

Lin is not getting that many votes from China as you thought actually.

The logic of Chinese Lin hates:

1. Lin is American, not Chinese. Why doesn't he change his nationality to Chinese?
2. Lin can't speak Chinese.
3. Lin is from Taiwan.
4. Lin doesn't play for the Chinese national team.
--> So I hate him.
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I believe he speaks Mandarin, at least the ads he did with Nike and KFC..he did speak it.

Rox>Mavs · Jan 3, 2013

Horry4theWin said: ↑

That's interesting because I've never seen Christians proclaim him as one of their own as to divide him from his ethnic heritage. People can keep both their faith and culture, just like there are Korean-American, Vietnamese-American, Filipino-American, Mexican-American Christians, etc or the many Black/White athletes who proclaim their love for God and Jesus. Faith transcends those cultural and racial differences and is generally supposed to be bring people together collectively regardless of race but that's not to say those ethnic/race issues don't exist.

Now the Chinese vs Taiwanese thing is obviously more sensitive due to politics, but the way Lin addresses that topic is very politically correct and I think your spot on with addressing the "hate" issue.

Going back to his ethnic background and religion, Lin has already shown he can be both as his family attends the Chinese Christian Church in Mountain View, CA and his pastor is Chinese-American, which also isn't anything different from the various ethnic groups that have their own Christian churches. He's also shared his religious views with other Asian-Americans through Youtube.
QUOTE]

I think the sentiment is driven more by Christians becoming fans of him because he's Christian playing on an international stage. I mean there are tons of people in my community that started following him because he's a professed believer and there's a tie in with Intervarsity fellowship which he was a part of (as was I in college). Most of these folks don't know anything about the nba, but are fans now because of this fact about him.

I agree....faith is meant to transcend and transform culture, just saying some people are fans of him because he's (Asian, American, Christian, Ivy leaguer, etc) and not so much because of him as an nba player. Nothing wrong with this....it's just a reason why he can be a polarizing figure because not all people who follow him are fans of him for the same reasons....which sooner or later causes heated debate.
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JJ23 · Jan 3, 2013

Uh oh the 3rd AS game results will be posted soooooooooooon........curious what the results will be lol

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