Chinese ping-pong player’s citizenship fast-tracked
Posted October 15, 2012 1:44 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – The Canadian Press has learned the Harper government fast-tracked the Canadian citizenship of a Chinese-born table tennis star so he could compete for Canada at the London Summer Olympics.
The Canadian Olympic Committee wrote to the Immigration department on May 11 requesting “an exceptional early granting of Canadian citizenship” Eugene Zhen Wang, the top-ranked ping-pong player in North America
It said Wang needed his citizenship by July 4 to be included on the Canadian men’s table tennis team.
The request was granted and Wang received his citizenship with a month to spare.
At the Games, however, the Canadian men’s team was knocked out in a first-round loss to Japan.
