It was my sophomore year when I first learned of Jude Shao, a naturalized American citizen and Stanford business school graduate who had been imprisoned by China for refusing to pay a bribe while running his business. I still remember his quote from the Stanford Daily:
Shao refused to pay what he interpreted as a bribe…. “I had set up the company’s policy not to bribe any government officials in China. I am a Stanford MBA. I wasn’t interested in unethical business practice.”
I just love the pride of his words. “I am a Stanford MBA.” I am above this unethical crap.
I also remember sharing bitter jokes with a friend, also an Chinese-American. We both saw Jude Shao’s story as something that could happen to us. While it is common knowledge that the Chinese government will have its way with its own citizens, and while (we assumed) that Washington DC would (and should) raise a stink if a white American were wrongfully imprisoned by China, Jude Shao’s imprisonment is showing that Americans of Chinese descent are the grey area.
I randomly decided today to google “Jude Shao” today and found the Free Jude Shao website:
He was detained on April 6, 1998, officially arrested on May 8, 1998 and has now been unjustly imprisoned for 9 years. He has 7 years remaining on his 16-year sentence.
Why the hell is he still a prisoner of the PRC?! I imagine the news analysis explanation has something to do with the fact that our country is holding tons of foreigners in Guantanamo without charge and that it would be hypocritical for this government to criticize the PRC of wrongfully imprisoning one of theirs, but damnit that man is one of ours and his country needs to stand up for him and be willing to escalate this Jude Shao debacle to bilateral controversy status.
January 6, 2008 at 1:19 pm |
jA point of clarification on the comments “Americans of Chinese descent are the grey area.” As the free Jude Shao website indicates :Q. Is Jude an U.S. Citizen?
A. Jude is a naturalized U.S. Citizen. He earned his citizenship in 1997.
Being a Naturalized US citizen, his original birth in the PRC places him in the view of the Chinese government still a citiizen of China. From how the Chinese government has acted in the past a citizen of China who becomes a naturalized citizen of the U.S. is viewed slightly differently than a U.S. citizen of Chinese descent.
April 30, 2008 at 10:17 pm |
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October 3, 2008 at 11:00 pm |
From Lenord: “Being a Naturalized US citizen, his original birth in the PRC places him in the view of the Chinese government still a citiizen of China. ”
I don’t think this makes sense, because I know by Chinese law any Chinese citizen who voluntarily joins a foreign citizenship automatically gives up his or her Chinese citizenship. Once Jude is a U.S. citizen, he is just the same as a white guy. And it doesn’t matter he earned his citizenship through naturalization or birth, he was a U.S. citizen by the time he was arrested by Chinese authority, and therefore the U.S. government has the responsibility to stand up for its own citizenship.
And I agree with the author of the original post that the U.S. government has been racist and not trying seriously because he wasn’t a white guy.
I felt shocked when I learned Jude’s case and I can’t believe the U.S. government is letting the Chinese Communist government abuse power on U.S. citizen. What the hell is our government doing?