(East-West Question) Ning Yi: What is the indissoluble bond between overseas Chinese and Chinese ice and snow sports?
China News Agency, Beijing, February 8th: What is the indissoluble bond between overseas Chinese and Chinese ice and snow sports?
——Interview with Ning Yi, Deputy Director of the Overseas Chinese History Museum of China
China News Agency reporter Ma Haiyan Menrui
Modern ice and snow sports originated in Europe.
From its entry into China to the realization of the goal of 300 million people participating in ice and snow sports, overseas Chinese have played an increasingly important role in the development of Chinese ice and snow sports.
When and why did overseas Chinese and Chinese ice and snow sports become attached?
What contributions did the overseas Chinese make during the bidding and preparation process for the Beijing Winter Olympics?
Ning Yi, deputy director of the Overseas Chinese History Museum of China, in an exclusive interview with China News Agency "East and West Questions", combed the story of overseas Chinese and China's ice and snow sports in detail.
China News Service reporter: The rise of ice and snow sports is inseparable from the overall development of sports. Since modern times, overseas Chinese have made great contributions to the development of Chinese sports. Why do they have a strong desire to develop Chinese sports?
On January 20, 2022, "Building Dreams and Going to the Future Together - Overseas Chinese and the Winter Olympics Theme Exhibition" opened in Beijing.
The picture shows the introduction of Chen Kah Kee and Hu Wenhu, the pioneers of the overseas Chinese community who advocated the revitalization of sports, attracting visitors.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Jia Tianyong
Ning Yi: In
modern China, domestic and foreign aggression, the country was humiliated, the people suffered, and the civilization was dusted.
The overseas Chinese live in a foreign country, and they feel strongly about the invasion of their ancestral country by foreign powers and the bullying of their compatriots.
They are eager to rejuvenate the nation, and especially hope to establish a strong national image through the development of sports.
Sun Yat-sen once pointed out that "to achieve national strength, we must first seek to develop national physical strength"; patriotic overseas Chinese leader Chen Jiageng actively implemented the concept of "equal emphasis on moral education, intellectual education and physical education" in the schools donated and built, and at the same time used martial arts as a national art. Overseas promotion.
After the founding of New China, a large number of returned overseas Chinese actively participated in the construction of sports in New China.
Fang Dingxun, "Bole", a famous returning Chinese sports player, Wu Chuanyu, a swimmer who won the first world championship for New China, Emily Lin, a world champion in table tennis, Chen Changfeng, a "little tiger" in women's basketball, and Huang Qianghui, who has broken weightlifting world records many times, etc. .
With the participation of returned overseas Chinese, great progress has been made in sports in New China, which has created favorable conditions and foundations for the relatively late Chinese ice and snow sports.
China News Service reporter: When did overseas Chinese and Chinese ice and snow sports become connected? Some outstanding Chinese ice and snow athletes went abroad to study and work after retirement. What role did they play in promoting the exchange of ice and snow sports between China and foreign countries?
Ning Yi:
Modern ice and snow sports originated in Europe and later spread to America, Asia, Oceania and other places.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, modern ice and snow sports emerged in foreign "concessions" and new-style schools in Northeast China and North China. At this time, overseas Chinese participated.
In 1979, China resumed its legal seat in the International Olympic Committee.
In 1980, China sent 28 athletes to the Lake Placid Winter Olympics for the first time.
Since then, Chinese ice and snow athletes have begun to emerge in the international arena.
In 1980, Bao Zhenhua represented China at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in the United States, becoming the first Chinese athlete to set foot on the Winter Olympics figure skating arena.
After retiring, she went to Japan to study and teach.
In 2018, she and her husband Bian Shaotang, who was the captain of the Chinese men's ice hockey team, returned to China and devoted themselves to the popularization of ice and snow sports in China.
Figure skating star Li Mingzhu went to the United States to teach in 1997, and later established the "International Ice Sports Training Center".
During her stay in the United States, she trained many new generation figure skaters from China and overseas Chinese.
In 2010, Li Mingzhu served as the head of the women's single skating coaching team for the Chinese National Figure Skating Team.
Women's speed skating world champion Wang Xiuli and women's short track speed skating world champion Li Yan retired to coach abroad.
In 2006, Li Yan returned to China to become the head coach of the Chinese national short track speed skating team.
In 2017, Wang Xiuli returned to China to coach the Chinese speed skating team in the middle and long distance category.
Chen Lu, China's first figure skating world champion, went to the United States to study and work after retiring. He returned to China in 2004 and introduced the commercial ice rink operation model to China. He is currently a member of the Athletes Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee.
In December 2019, Chen Lu, member of the Athlete Committee of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee (first from the right), member of the Chinese Olympic Committee and former head coach of the Chinese National Short Track Speed Skating Team Li Yan (third from the left) took the high-speed train from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, Hebei. competition area.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Jiang Qiming
As new overseas Chinese, the growth environment, reasons for going abroad and life trajectories of these ice and snow athletes are very different from those of the older generation of returned overseas Chinese athletes.
But their love for sports and their dedication to developing Chinese sports are in the same line as the older generation of returned overseas Chinese athletes.
China News Service reporter: In the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese sports delegation has achieved "all-event participation" in all 7 major events and 15 sub-events. Are there any overseas Chinese among the athletes?
Ning Yi:
Attracting high-level overseas Chinese athletes to return to China (to China) to participate in sports events, compete with local athletes, form competition, and select outstanding athletes to represent China in international events is an important measure for the reform of China's sports field in recent years. .
In 2017, the General Administration of Sports of China announced that the 13th National Games will be open to overseas Chinese athletes for the first time.
To attract high-level players from overseas Chinese, so that overseas Chinese can share the glory of Chinese sports take-off while realizing their self-worth.
In recent years, China's ice and snow sports have flourished.
China's ice and snow sports have welcomed a group of overseas Chinese athletes, such as Gu Ailing, Lin Shan, Zhu Yi, Zheng Enlai, etc., which have contributed to the rapid improvement of China's ice and snow sports competition level.
Gu Ailing photographed in Beijing in December 2019.
In the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Gu Ailing will compete in three events: the freestyle ski jumping platform, the slope obstacle course and the U-shaped venue.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Ren Haixia
China News Agency reporter: In the history of the development of world ice and snow sports, what remarkable achievements have foreign Chinese athletes achieved? Who are the representative figures?
Ning Yi:
On the stage of world ice and snow sports, Chinese athletes have won honor and respect for the host country and the Chinese community by virtue of their unique physical conditions, hard-working and persevering qualities, as well as their gentle and friendly international image.
Ice hockey player Wu Qiguang has long made history as the first non-white player to enter the North American Professional Hockey League. Lu Xianyong, an alpine skier, has been praised as the "Queen of Snowboards" in Canada. Recently, Zhu Huiwen, who was the captain of the U.S. women's national ice hockey team, Hungarian short track speed skating players Liu Shaolin and Liu Shaoang are quite eye-catching.
Due to their long-term training in Changchun, Jilin, and under the influence of coach Zhang Jing, brothers Liu Shaolin and Liu Shaoang can speak fluent Northeastern dialect and gain many Chinese fans.
Chinese athletes have performed exceptionally well in figure skating.
According to the official report of the U.S. team, in 2017, 39% of the top players in the U.S. men’s and women’s figure skating single skating events are Asian, and Chinese are the main part.
For example, Chen Tingting, the first Chinese-American women's singles champion in figure skating in the United States, Chen Kaiwen, who won the women's singles champion of the National Championships, and Chen Wei, who has won many world championships, etc.
Chinese athletes have achieved impressive results in figure skating. On the one hand, the physical fitness of the Chinese is suitable for this sport that requires flexibility and coordination; on the other hand, it is also inseparable from the strict educational philosophy of the Chinese family and the indomitable spirit of the Chinese. Quality and nourishment of traditional Chinese culture.
China News Service reporter: From the bid to the holding, what outstanding contributions have the overseas Chinese made in helping the Beijing Winter Olympics?
Ning Yi:
Competitive sports can condense national solidarity and arouse national pride. Overseas Chinese have always supported the development of sports in their home country, and the same is true for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
In the process of bidding for the Winter Olympics, many overseas Chinese delegations and compatriots spontaneously organized activities to actively publicize and support Beijing.
In 2015, after Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, overseas Chinese actively expressed their blessings and supported the hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics through practical actions.
In November 2021, the Brazilian Chinese Association and the South American Hokkien Friendship Association, together with more than 10 overseas Chinese groups, held a garden tour in Sao Paulo to welcome the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, attracting many overseas Chinese and Brazilians to participate.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Mo Chengxiong
In 2019, the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese issued an initiative to assist overseas Chinese in the Winter Olympics and donate to build the Overseas Chinese Ice and Snow Museum, which has received strong support from nearly 30,000 overseas Chinese from 53 countries and regions.
At present, the Overseas Chinese Ice and Snow Museum has been completed in the main urban area of Chongli, Zhangjiakou. It is the largest Winter Olympics ice and snow-themed museum with the most abundant exhibits in China, and it is also an important guarantee project during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
In August 2021, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, the first domestic ice and snow museum with the theme of the Winter Olympics - the main project of the Overseas Chinese Ice and Snow Museum has been successfully completed and has entered the stage of decoration.
Photo by China News Agency Wu Diansen
Among the volunteers for the Beijing Winter Olympics, there are 28 Chinese students from 14 countries and colleges in Beijing, who provide volunteer services at Winter Olympic venues such as "Ice Cube" and "Ice Ribbon".
These new generation of Chinese international students support the Beijing Winter Olympics by participating in volunteer services, and have a closer connection with China by sharing the international event and empathizing with the Olympic spirit.
China News Service reporter: What role will the overseas Chinese play in the current and future development of China's ice and snow sports?
Ning Yi:
At present, China has achieved the goal of 300 million people participating in ice and snow sports.
China's ice and snow sports are booming, and overseas Chinese have deeply participated in it through multiple channels, dimensions and forms, making important contributions to the development of ice and snow sports in China and the exchange of sports between China and foreign countries.
At the same time, the development of ice and snow sports in China and the holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics have also provided them with a broad stage to realize their ideals in life.
In the future, overseas Chinese will play a more unique and important role as a bridge in the development of Chinese ice and snow sports and the exchanges between Chinese and foreign ice and snow sports, write more moving stories, and achieve more glorious achievements.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Ning Yi, Deputy Director of the Overseas Chinese History Museum of China, from Changsha, Hunan Province, Master of Laws from the School of International Relations of Peking University, director of the Overseas Chinese History Society of China, and member of the Youth Federation of the central and state organs.
He has been engaged in the research of overseas Chinese affairs and the information work of the Overseas Chinese Federation for many years. He has presided over the project of overseas ethnic minorities and overseas Chinese, and co-authored "Research on Overseas Chinese Associations with Five Predestined Relationships".