|
Jeremy Lin is
Taiwanese, family insists
HOMECOMING: An official said there was no record
of Lin ever applying for ROC citizenship, but that he qualified, as both his
parents had joint ROC-US citizenship
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporter, with Staff Writer and AFP,
NEW YORK
New York Knicks point guard
Jeremy Lin brings the ball up court in the 2nd half against the Sacramento Kings
at Madison Square Garden in New York on Wednesday.
Photo: EPA
The family of basketball sensation Jeremy
Lin (林書豪), who announced he would visit Taiwan to take part in a basketball camp
after the NBA season wraps up, is adamant that he is of Taiwanese heritage, the
New York Times reported yesterday.
Lin Chi-chung (林繼宗), Jeremy Lin’s 63-year-old uncle, said in an interview in
Taipei that there was no doubt that the Harvard--educated younger Lin, as well
as his family, are Taiwanese.
“For sure, they are Taiwanese,” Lin Chi-chung said. “I spoke to Jeremy Lin’s
father, who is my younger brother, and he said: ‘Make sure you point this out,’”
he told the Times.
Both of Jeremy Lin’s parents were born in Taiwan and hold dual citizenship of
the Republic of China (ROC) and the US, he said. Jeremy Lin was born in
California and has US citizenship, but he has been offered dual citizenship in
the ROC as well by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his uncle said.
Lin’s uncle said he and Jeremy Lin’s father were eighth-generation descendants
of immigrants from Fujian Province, China, who moved to Taiwan in 1707. They
were part of a large wave of Fujian migration from which most of Taiwan’s
current residents are descended, the Times wrote.
A senior official in Zhejiang Province, China, suggested over the weekend that
Jeremy Lin’s ancestral home was there because his maternal grandmother grew up
in the province before moving to Taiwan in the late 1940s.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman James Chang (章計平) yesterday said in
response to media inquiries that there was no record of Jeremy Lin ever applying
for ROC citizenship.
“We have checked with the Bureau of Consular Affairs. The government has never
received an application from Jeremy Lin for ROC citizenship,” Chang said.
Even though Jeremy Lin has US citizenship, he is eligible for ROC citizenship
because both of his parents retain ROC citizenship and because Taiwan allows
dual citizenship, he said.
Chang denied that the ministry had offered Jeremy Lin ROC citizenship, saying it
was up to the basketball star to apply for it.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Lin has said he plans to return to Taiwan after the NBA season
to take part in a basketball camp in which he helped out last year.
Lin said on Wednesday, after helping lead the New York Knicks to a 100-85
victory over Sacramento, that he was looking forward to his trip to Asia.
“I have a strong passion for the game and a strong passion for Taiwan,” Lin
said. “Last summer, it was one of the highlights of my summer, so I’m going to
do it again.”
Knicks games have become an Internet sensation because of Lin, a former Knicks
bench-warmer who was given a chance to play and responded with the most points
in his first five starts of any NBA player since 1976.
|
