Quote of the Day: On Chinese Tennis Star Li Na’s Individualist Influence

Li has been a trailblazer not only in athletics, but also in the way she has managed her own career. In 2008, she famously split from China’s state-run sports system, selected her own coach, set her own schedules and (gasp) revealed a tattoo of a rose on her chest that she had previously hidden. 

As a child, she came up through China’s Soviet-style athletic factory, starting with badminton. In those days, the government required its elite athletes to hand over more than half their pretax income, including endorsement earnings, for their entire careers. But six years ago, Li was among a few athletes to lobby for more freedom. Instead of giving 65% of her income back to the China Tennis Association and other local authorities, Li paid back less than 12% under new rules. She has also donated much of her prize money to charities and is widely adored—particularly by China’s younger generation—with about 23 million followers on a Chinese social media site. Compare that to Serena Williams’s roughly 4.3 million followers on Twitter.

The reforms in Chinese sports have been radical, not only for Li’s career and influence, but also for China. Decades ago during the Cultural Revolution, successful athletes could be accused of “trophy mania,” meaning they had committed the crime of promoting individual achievement.

Things are a bit different now—although Li has made headlines for actually not thanking her homeland in speeches, and promoting individualism, rather than merely “bringing glory to the state.” Her entrepreneurial spirit is now mirrored by millions of Chinese who are able to start their own companies and create innovative products and services. While Li’s tennis future may be uncertain, her impact on Chinese society is clear.

(bold mine, italics original)

This eye opening observation is from Patricia Huang of Matthews Asian Fund on the the world’s currently third ranked female Chinese tennis star Li Na's influences.

It is not clear if Ms Li has read or even heard of novelist-philosopher Ms Ayn Rand who popularly advocated the moral basis for individualism, but for Ms. Li to discover the invaluable virtues of individualism which she may have spread to her millions of followers could be seen as one MAJOR positive development for the Chinese society and for global peace. 

For more people to appreciate the values of individual freedom means to erode the pernicious influences of populist friction causing redistributive politics while at the same time provide a boost to a free society (economic freedom and civil liberties).

May Ms. Li Na’s tribe multiply!