Alysa Liu slams ‘hypocrites’ attacking Eileen Gu for representing China over United States after JD Vance swipe

American Olympic gold medalist and figure-skating sensation Alysa Liu does not blame her fellow Bay Area native Eileen Gu for representing China in international competitions.

Asked by The New York Times about Gu’s decision to compete as a freestyle skier for China, Liu took a pass on criticizing the six-time Olympic medalist.

‘I’ve known Eileen since I was 13 or something,’ the 20-year-old Liu told the Times. ‘We’re from the Bay Area. She’s super nice, and her mom is from China.’

Gu and Liu are actually seen together in a 2018 video from the Northern California Chinese Culture Athletic Federation that recently went viral. The footage shows the two laughing teenagers doing a karaoke version of Alicia Keys‘ ‘Girl On Fire’ in front of a small crowd. 

Speaking with the Times, Liu took aim at her long-time friend’s detractors.  

‘I think people are hypocritical for shaming her for representing China,’ Liu continued. ‘So in my head it’s a bit hypocritical, because her mom is an immigrant. Y’all would have told her to go back to China. Now that they’re back in China, you’re mad.

Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China celebrates during the medal ceremony

American gold medalist and figure-skating sensation Alysa Liu refused to criticize Gu

Gu (right) and Liu (left) are actually seen together in a 2018 video from the Northern California Chinese Culture Athletic Federation that recently went viral during the Olympics 

‘[Laughs] And it’s sport, it doesn’t matter what country we represent. Sport is sport, and she has a love for competition, she has love for the game. I think that’s all that matters. There’s no shame in going to where opportunity is.’

Gu’s opportunity with Team China may have been a financial one. She and another athlete got a combined $6.6 million from the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau leading up to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In total, the pair reportedly received $14 million over the last three years from the Bureau, which allocated the funding as ‘striving for excellent results in qualifying for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics,’ according to a budget reviewed by the Journal.

Spokespeople for Gu did not respond to requests for comment from the Journal.

Previously, Gu told The Athletic she represented China, her mother’s native country, because she has a chance to make a bigger impact with the People’s Republic.

Gu has received some praise from notable sports figures, such as retired US soccer star Megan Rapinoe, but has also been a target for criticism. Even Vice President JD Vance took a swipe at the 22-year-old currently enrolled at Stanford.

‘I certainly think that someone who grew up in the United States of America who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that makes this country a great place, I would hope they want to compete with the United States of America,’ Vance told Fox News last month. ‘So, I’m going to root for American athletes, I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That’s who I’m rooting for in this Olympics.’

Speaking with the New York Times, Liu took aim at her long-time friend’s detractors

Gu is seen competing in the Big Air competition, where she ultimately finished in second 

Gu has refrained from public criticism of China’s communist regime in Beijing, which has been blamed for persecuting Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the western part of the country.

‘I haven’t done the research,’ she previously told Time. ‘I don’t think it’s my business. I’m not going to make big claims on my social media.

‘I’m just more of a skeptic when it comes to data in general,’ she continued. ‘So, it’s not like I can read an article and be like, ‘Oh, well, this must be the truth.’ I need to have a ton of evidence. I need to maybe go to the place, maybe talk to 10 primary source people who are in a location and have experienced life there.’

China has been accused of a series of ongoing human rights abuses in the northwest province of Xinjiang since 2014.

Beginning in 2016, China created a mass detention program of Muslim minorities, according to secret documents uncovered by the Los Angeles Times in 2019. In 2022, a report from the United Nations accused China of ‘serious human rights violations’ in Xinjiang.

China has denied the allegations, which the country called ‘groundless’ in an official statement.

‘The lawful rights and interests of workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are protected and there is no such thing as ‘forced labor,” read China’s statement.

Uyghurs hold signs as they demonstrate in front of the Chinese consulate in Istanbul in 2020

Enes Kanter Freedom, who blames the abrupt ending of his NBA career on his criticism of China, told Fox News last month that Gu is a ‘traitor’ for picking China over Team USA.

‘I’m just going to say it, she’s a traitor,’ the Swiss-born, Turkish-raised Kanter Freedom said. ‘She was born in America. She was raised in America, lives in America, and chooses to compete against her own country for, literally, the worst human rights abuser on the planet, China. She built her fame in a free country, and then chooses to represent an authoritarian regime.’

Gu’s decision has led to criticism for years and, as she told The Athletic, a physical attack while attending Stanford University of her native California.

‘Physically assaulted on the street,’ Gu told The Athletic. ‘The police were called.

‘I’ve had death threats,’ she added. ‘I’ve had my dorm robbed.’

She also claimed a petition, started by the parents of Chinese-American students, was launched to keep her out of the school.