{"id":69662,"date":"2026-07-18T09:48:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T01:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=69662"},"modified":"2026-07-18T09:48:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T01:48:01","slug":"reflections-after-us-birthright-citizenship-ruling-lessons-from-how-foreigners-once-became-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=69662","title":{"rendered":"Reflections | After US birthright citizenship ruling, lessons from how foreigners once \u2018became Chinese\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Questions about who belongs to a nation and how citizenship should be acquired remain as contentious today as they have ever been. The rise of xenophobic, far-right politics in many countries is an ugly consequence of this debate.<\/p>\n

On June 30, 2026, the United States Supreme Court rejected an executive order issued by President Donald Trump<\/span> that sought to end so-called birthright citizenship, the guarantee of citizenship to almost anyone born on American soil, including the children of undocumented immigrants and temporary foreign residents.<\/div>\n
While three justices (out of nine) dissented, the court ultimately ruled in Trump vs Barbara<\/span> that the US Constitution protects birthright citizenship regardless of a child\u2019s parentage or immigration status. In doing so, it left intact an interpretation of the country\u2019s constitution that has stood for more than a century.<\/div>\n
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\"Demonstrators<\/div>
Demonstrators in front of the United States Supreme Court on the day of a hearing as part of President Donald Trump\u2019s contentious bid to end birthright citizenship in the US, on April 1, 2026. Photo: AFP via Getty Images\/TNS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Yet the broader questions highlighted by the case \u2013 who can become part of a community, and on what basis \u2013 are ones that all peoples have attempted to answer, with varying degrees of success.<\/p>\n

Like most premodern states, imperial China did not possess a nationality law in the contemporary sense, nor did it maintain a standardised legal procedure through which foreigners could apply for citizenship.<\/p>\n

Instead, \u201cbecoming Chinese\u201d was determined by a combination of cultural identity and political allegiance.<\/p>\n

For most Chinese people before the modern era, \u201cChineseness\u201d was a concept that emphasised shared civilisation, language, customs and loyalty to the imperial order rather than race or ethnicity. As a result, foreigners could gradually become accepted as Chinese through several well-established pathways.<\/p>\n

One common route was voluntary submission to imperial authority and permanent settlement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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