The Japanese Skaters May Pull Out Of Cup Of China

[missing]

The federation is demanding "cast-iron" guarantees of their safety.

[Eislauffan]

I actually thought about how this unrest might affect the Japanese skaters. Hopefully things will have calmed down by November. A few years back there was a similar situation with anti-Japanese protests in China (over how World War II was reflected in Japanese school books, I think). The Japanese skaters competed at Cup of China and felt that they were very welcomed by the audience. The fans luckily are not drawn into this politicial controversy.

It would be really sad if the skaters had to withdraw because of security fears. They probably would not be reassigned to other GP events.

[Marco]

Some of the stories I heard were quite terrifying. While I am not as worried about how the Japanese skaters might be treated by fans, but I am quite worried about how they might be treated by others in the city, from airport to hotel.

By the same token, I wish the USFS would consider carefully about sending Nagasu.

[love_skate2011]

^ I hope not, so much depth in Cup of China competition

Nagasu ? she is American
I doubt anyone would know she is Japanese or consider her one
as she was born and raised in the US

[Sylvia]

Well, Nagasu looks Japanese.

Side note: Lexus (of Toyota Motor Co.) is this year's title sponsor of Cup of China:
http://www.lexus.com.cn/en/news/Info.aspx?id=400
Excerpt from the Aug. 28, 2012 press release:

Starting with the title sponsorship of the Cup of China, Lexus will provide long-term and comprehensive support for the development of figure skating in China. During the signing ceremony, Lexus also announced the launch of “Lexus Figure Skating Open Day”, which is an equally exciting program under which free figure skating trainings will be provided for young people in China on a regular basis. Akira Sasaki, Chairman of Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. said, “There are children with no access to this elegant sport. We value the desire cherished by each and every child. We hope that with this program, we can help children in China to pursue their dreams in the skating rink.” The open day program will be a long-term initiative. After the first year in Beijing, the program will also be staged in other Chinese cities, so that the enchanting beauty of figure skating could be appreciated by young people everywhere in the country.

[jlai]

I share Marco's concern. Non-fans would just look at her last name and make assumptions about her nationality

[Sylvia]

But how would "non-fans" know or see Nagasu's name?

I assume the Chinese federation, through the government, would be able to provide all the necessary security for the Japanese skaters (Tatsuki Machida and Takahashi/Tran are also scheduled to compete) if they decide to make it a priority.

[seabm7]

If I remember correctly, Nagasu has dual citizenships.

[jlai]

IDs, credit cards, newspaper articles about the event? For casual viewers, skating videos or perhaps TV coverage?

Anyway, I really don't know the answer to the question. But I do know some don't distinguish strongly between Chinese/Japanese and Chinese/Japanese Americans

[kirkbiggestfan]

In the worse case scenario, I hope that the ISU steps up and reassign the Japanese skaters to other GP. You can have a competition with 12 skaters instead of 10...just like not so long ago.

[Sparks]

If I remember correctly, Nagasu has dual citizenships.

I think Japan does not allow dual citizenship.

[love_skate2011]

I think Japan does not allow dual citizenship.

my thoughts exactly, If I remember by the time he/she turns to 21
he/se needs to choose the citizenship and will have to give up the other
if he/she wants to be a japanese citizen

Japan has one the hardest citizenship procedures in the whole world

[Skittl1321]

I think Japan does not allow dual citizenship.

They do for children up to a certain age. You have to decide at the age of 20 or 22 (different sources say different ages...). The Shibutani's also have dual citizenship under this law.


ETA: Man, someone beat me to it while I was posting.

[Eislauffan]

The protests in China were directed against Japanese shops, restaurants, embassy etc, not necessarily against individuals. I don't think that a mob would gather and attack skaters. I also don't think that protesters would gather in front of the ice rink (which is out of town anyway) or buy tickets to get into the rink and protest there. There was speculation on how some of the protests were arranged behind the scenes by authorities, at least they were tolerated. The Cup of China is not a "Japanese" event, Japanese athletes are just taking part alongside skaters from many other countries. So the competition does not seem like a target for anti-Japanese protests, if orchestrated or not.

Stupid politics, anyway. They just should divide those islands between them.

[Vash01]

I think if the skaters and the JSF is worried about the safety in China, it is very understandable for them to skip the competition. How can anyone 'guarantee' safety? There are a lot of crazy people in the world.

[crzesk8dad]

Pretty sad stuff.

Isn't sport supposed to have us all put our politics aside and just enjoy the competition of athlete vs. athlete? I know, I am being very Pollyanna.

Since both countries have already withdrawn from each other's events in other sports (badmitton, cycling), this could be more than just an "idle threat" on the part of the federations.

[seabm7]

Stupid politics, anyway. They just should divide those islands between them.

They did not pay attention to the islands until someone reported that there is a huge oil field sleeping under the sea nearby. Sigh...

[Eislauffan]

They did not pay attention to the islands until someone reported that there is a huge oil field sleeping under the sea nearby. Sigh...

Yes, I know. That's why I said they should divide the islands (and the oil).

[allezfred]

They did not pay attention to the islands until someone reported that there is a huge oil field sleeping under the sea nearby. Sigh...

This is the official Japanese government stance regarding China's claim to the islands. They are a part of Okinawa Prefecture which was under US administration after WW2 until 1972 when it was returned to Japan.

China shouldn't have any more claim on these islands than it does on Taiwan (which actually has more of a valid claim on the territory than China does ).

Anyway, I'm sure it will all have calmed down by November.

[ponta1]

Pretty sad stuff.

Isn't sport supposed to have us all put our politics aside and just enjoy the competition of athlete vs. athlete? I know, I am being very Pollyanna.

Since both countries have already withdrawn from each other's events in other sports (badmitton, cycling), this could be more than just an "idle threat" on the part of the federations.

There really was no reason for China to have pulled their athletes out of the event in Japan. As for the Japanese cycling team, they were actually expelled from the event, i.e., they were not allowed to compete by the Chinese organizing committee.