These Wasian Girls Made Different Choices (Eileen Gu VS Alysa Liu)

All right everybody it is a cold winter day in Chinatown New York City and we have to talk about Alyssa Liu and Aileen Gu and how this whole situation has been very very politicized. I'm not politicizing it other people are but we're going to talk about it. I got my friend Matt with me he's going to come in later and give his interesting take on it so let's talk about the winter olympianuations. All right everybody I'm here with Matt. What's up? All right so real quick just give everybody a quick overview Alyssa Liu just won the gold medal for figure skating and as of filming this video she has another chance to win I believe a couple more. Aileen Gu of course you guys know the international superstar who won gold medals for China even though she's born and raised in the U.S. which caused some controversy over the past few years but because Alyssa Liu actually grew up with Aileen Gu so now I think this whole conversation is coming back. Matt am I missing anything? You got that right two Waysian sensations from the bay area. Winter Waysian. Winter Waysian sensations bay area both ran in the same family friend circle in the bay area both single parents Alyssa's single dad Aileen's single mom both flew in a manner and very in touch with their cultural side and ultra competitive so spiritually Asian. Even down to Alyssa's father is known as having a very big law firm so he's done well for himself he's raised five kids via surrogates and by the way surrogate parents are not cheap and Aileen Gu's father has not really been shown I mean I would say Alyssa Liu's I guess the the mothers to all her siblings are not really like publicized so it's kind of like they both kind of have like oddly mysterious family backgrounds I don't want to like dig too much into it but let's just say like there's a lot of online speculation of well you know how how they've how they came to be you know right it's kind of weird to be so fixated on their family backgrounds but we can't help because you know I'm not going to lie in the spirit of conspiracy theories all becoming like 50 true at least that's why people are talking about it the thing that kind of separates them and what the non-Asian community is trying to divide is that they fly under different flags Alyssa being American Chinese American Aileen also Chinese American technically but flying the Chinese flag not too common in the 20th century maybe more increasingly common in the 21st century especially not common 10 years ago real quick I got to stop you there Matt I've never been inside this mall man what is this 15 Elizabeth have you been inside here old doctors this is all my old primary care it's uh used to be it's very it's very toys on I think let's let's go in there it's super cold guys outside you know and I'm holding this thing up so oh there's a nice little mall okay I've never been first time inside yeah well you know a lot of stuff is mainland oh you know who else is mainland Chinese actually both Alyssa Liu and Aileen Gu are both mainland Chinese so I think it's interesting that they both have mainland parents another thing about Aileen I think is interesting is that whenever she's asked about her nationality or her like citizenship she kind of has like a fishy answer so I think that just breeds even more speculation because she's not really answering it straight up because she is uh competing for China what do you mean by that what do you mean by that when people ask her like oh Aileen did you give up your American citizenship she like basically won't answer it but the truth is she probably still has her citizenship but just because she has like a special connection with China uh through maybe her mom um that she's pretty much able to compete for China but there's other Americans have I mean Chris uh it was not Ryan Anderson Chris not Chris Anderson who's uh Kyle Anderson Kyle Anderson my bad NBA player uh like 1 8th or 1 4th Chinese mostly like uh black passing grew up in New Jersey I mean he's black but he's uh Jamaican black okay yeah but he played he recently got nationalization for the Chinese national team so he plays basketball for China I bet most people don't even know that right so I think it's actually not new uh what Aileen Gu is doing another difference is actually the parental background so both parents of Alyssa Liu's father and Aileen Gu's mother are both mainland Chinese but Alyssa Liu's father has a history of being a protester and organizing uh pro-democratic protests in China during the Tiananmen Square you know the 80s and early 90s so uh he basically felt like he had to leave China for that reason while I would say Aileen Gu's mother and Aileen Gu have been proudly Chinese and repping the Chinese flag which is just different it just gives a different vibe you know like of course guys you know on this channel I've always talked about China and we are keep it pretty real and pretty fair and I'm but I'm also pretty much against like people randomly hating on China for no reason although you know no government is perfect not America and definitely not China's government all right so I feel like Alyssa's background as far as her allegiances and political I guess story is pretty straight up clear you know she's born and raised in America she's half white um so her did probably pick a Caucasian egg as an egg donor but anyway so she's you know for America she's gonna win golds for America all that stuff but Aileen Gu's situation is a little bit different and that's why it's always been controversial especially because Aileen is such a big star she like makes millions of dollars do you know how many millions of dollars I think north of 20 million which puts her in the top five of female athletes by income the only ones close are literally tennis players uh the only Chinese woman who rivals that is Jung Chin Wen Olympic also Olympic tennis player but grand slam contender so uh there's not too many I mean Coco Goff is up there too anyway Matt you have a take on Aileen Gu what what go ahead yeah so Aileen Gu very polarizing because she's white let's face it she's white passing uh white culturally probably uh dating tendencies uh school-wise she's lives as basically an American girl uh however her paychecks come from China um a lot of Americans let's say conservative white men might see her and want to have that feeling of feeling proud of her but that proudness and that national pride and that maybe that ethnic pride is muted because they know that she's taking checks um that rubs them the wrong way now when you look at the comments if you've been noticing the comments on her social media the past I don't know four years they are constantly just just jumping straight to it why would you do that why would you do like it's almost like they feel like she's portraying their tribe as white Americans and they they constantly talk about like go back to China whatever and her response is quite good um it's cry about it she kind of doubles down cry about it why don't you do something about she doesn't really shy away from it she doesn't she completely owns it um and that's something that we haven't seen from any athletes Chinese American uh Taiwanese American anyone so are you saying that she's like kind of unapologetic about repping China and you're saying in a way is that like a very American trait of hers it is an American trait um but it's an American trait going against what they want her to do um and at the same time yes she's she's not exactly a soldier of China but she is unapologetic unapologetic about it including you know putting China in a positive light not not really being like you know how Jordan used to separate he once said uh Republicans buy sneakers too and she's doing the opposite where she's like okay I'm Chinese I'm having fun in China I post about China in my social media I'm not apologizing for that and that's something regardless of whatever opinion you have about her that's something that we haven't seen yet so trailblazers in my mind they always have my respect okay fair take I mean I actually don't disagree with you I think it is pretty bold what she's doing you know and obviously she feels very confident in that and you know she's beautiful from a good family very talented athletic so she might as well be confident I guess I would say what's something you want her to change like is there anything what else can she do what else could Eileen Gu do to be like a soldier for Asians yeah well like being Asian-American right so like she's doing that part of the Chinese thing but then oh appreciate that man uh I mean on a non-serious note I mean if she would just like date a Chinese guy that would be that'd be cool like if Eileen Gu could bring herself to meet and date a Chinese guy considering she makes so much money in China and China loves her and she goes back and forth and she's very proud of her culture you know it would make sense not a white washed Chinese girl she's Chinese she culturally she speaks it she likes the food she travels there all the time she's traveled there more than us like but I think you know obviously I'm not here to control who people date you can date whoever you want but I'm just saying it would show something because obviously Eileen Gu's like I guess history of guys that she even hangs out with on record is not so Chinese of course I'm sure at Stanford there are plenty of Asian people for her to hang out with but you know what I'm talking oh what should she does she need to know whatever don't do it for me who cares um do your thing you know I mean she lives a fine life and but yeah so I think it's funny that basically comparing we don't know who Alyssa is dating and we probably don't need to talk about that because why am I concerned with yeah well what do you think about her hanging out with that French Olympian last Olympics are we are we still thinking about that I mean I'm not thinking about it I'm not emotional about it but obviously if you made asked me and you were like hey this French guy kind of had this off comment about China and or Asians and then like and then she's like hanging out with him it's kind of like was that like that face that means the dope that's it that's the face I had so nothing not a big deal but of course it's kind of like of course right of course let's go to t-pulse across the canal let's cross canal one so who do you identify with more Alyssa or Eileen okay so I find what Eileen did as very interesting because I'm a guy who is a media and we talk about Chinese culture I always wanted to be part of the bridge and I think you know what the fung bros have done over the years is part of the bridge although we didn't really reach over as far as Eileen did because she's more famous and is more fluid I guess culturally or supposedly but like I guess I think it's really cool what that mission that part of her mission is I mean obviously I think she saw the opportunity and her family saw the opportunity to be like really big over there and be globally famous by you know winning golds for China and you know because the Olympics is so politicized and it's almost like and China cares more about the Olympics than than professional sports I mean they care the most about the Olympics probably so it's like to I guess further the goal of China I can see why a lot of people see that as like a negative especially Americans right depending on how patriotic you want to be and then so Alyssa is more like straight up just like American I'm a I'm a wage and ABC cool you know so I guess like in that I see what Eileen did on a global scale as I guess pretty interesting but you know I'm proud of them both and you know I don't know them personally but I know that like maybe Eileen's like kind of the way she carries herself in a more posh like classy way can come off as a little pretentious and I see that around rich people doesn't she you you say that with that I know I know what you mean so I'm just saying like I mean Instagram posts one slide Elon Musk one side the notorious Wendy Dang Murdoch married the Rupert Murdoch enough said okay google google that we didn't talk about I get it I get it I get it that's why I'm like I think as a person I probably relate more to Alyssa let's say this I mean Eileen would not win the gold medal in down to earth she'd win it for a beauty all right what about you um well yeah like I said uh net positive I think Eileen's positive like I said maybe not the most relatable person and for that like I'm not hanging out with Wendy Dang Murdoch and being proud of that but she she is unapologetic like I said listen we all knew that you get but you guys used to dance around it like you're just like if you talk about this China you almost have to have the disclaimer that you don't fully support everything about them but she's unapologetic she says go hey white men go cry more about what I said like me supporting China just just to point out Americans hypocrisy uh a talented footballer soccer player Giuseppe Rossi born and raised in New Jersey everyone expected him to be the top American men's player but he ended up playing for Italy he rode the bench he was like 12th man on Italy didn't get minutes and so then people were mad but they weren't giving the same kind of energy that giving Eileen Eileen's a traitor here like Giuseppe Rossi oh yeah it would have been nice if he would have been the best player on team USA but he's literally riding the bench to be Italian I mean Italian American like you know it's not the same man it's viewed completely that's how I'm saying it's bullshit right here like like they need to give that same energy they gave uh Giuseppe Rossi to Eileen or vice versa give Eileen some grace that Giuseppe didn't get anytime someone waves the Chinese flag no matter what your background is you're gonna get some scrutiny okay so yes I give her credit for being bold and just going for whatever she wants you know um but yes you know the check the check the rmb helps right like the the rmb helps I mean who knows listen I'm not in their position I'm I'm probably gonna compete for America okay all right everybody you let me know in the comments down below I know that they actually grew up together so they know each other and they're both Haitians from the Bay Area both from these interesting kind of like odd family structures I'll just say that uh so leaving it up to a lot of like I guess interesting speculation I got a question though do you think if the the option for Eileen to compete for Taiwan or say like Jeremy Lin to play basketball for Taiwan do you think that would have changed like for right right right but not being American you know what is it the fact that they're not picking American or is it just a double the double-edged sword that she picked not only not American but China no it's definitely that she picked China for sure yeah 100% all right everybody let us know in the comments down below hope you guys enjoyed that discussion this is Matt maybe you'll see him around but let us know in the comments down below Alyssa Liu and Eileen Gu the wonderful winter Asians the wonderful winter Asians the winter soldier Asians