Chinese American figure skater Alysa Liu won gold at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, drawing international attention. In an interview with Japanese media, her father, Arthur Liu, said Chinese officials had approached him in hopes that his daughter would compete under the Chinese flag. He said he declined because of China’s human rights record, adding that money could not override his principles.
Liu captured two gold medals at the Milan-Cortina Games, becoming a central figure in media coverage. Born in California, she began skating at age five. At 13, she became the youngest women’s singles champion in U.S. Figure Skating Championships history.
Her career trajectory has drawn comparisons with Eileen Gu, a Chinese American freestyle skier who also grew up in California but chose to represent China in international competition, a decision that prompted criticism from some American conservatives.
Arthur Liu was born in Sichuan Province, China. At 25, he left China after being targeted for participating in the 1989 Tiananmen democracy movement. He later settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, earned a law degree from the University of California, and founded a law firm.
In a recent online interview with Nikkei Asia conducted in California, Arthur Liu said, “I did not allow my daughter to represent China in competition. That is obvious, because China has serious human rights violations.”
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He added, “The Chinese people still lack freedom of speech and freedom of religion. China still has political prisoners. To be clear, I would not allow my daughter to compete on behalf of such a government.”
Arthur Liu said that before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, someone contacted him while China was recruiting ethnic Chinese athletes worldwide. He declined to provide further details, stating only, “Someone did contact me, and I made it clear that I would not allow her to represent China.”
He said he did not receive a specific financial offer and that “the conversation did not even reach that point,” but added that he had heard from others that “the terms were very attractive.”
“I have some principles that I cherish very much,” he said. “I would not sacrifice my integrity. No matter how much they offered me or Alysa Liu, it would not happen.”
Arthur Liu also said that after he rejected the approach, he experienced pressure, stating that China “has monitored me for decades since I came to the United States.” He said he has organized protest activities over the years opposing what he described as the Chinese authorities’ human rights abuses, suppression of dissidents, and persecution of Uyghurs and Falun Gong practitioners. As the Beijing Winter Olympics approached, he said, “they stepped up their efforts and sent more spies.”
