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Comment by nitrogen | Hacker News Reader

Sounds like there's not a lot of difference between "citizen" and "subject". The claims of ownership across generations for births that occurred elsewhere are the most astonishing part of this for me.

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Then don't look into who can acquire Israeli citizenship. They are open to "all Jewish persons", both people born to jewish mothers and converts "who are not a member of another religion". So citizenship, or not, can turn on the specifics of religious faith and ritual. (Isreal is not alone in this, they are just the most western-leaning nation for whom religious dogma is used in determining citizenship.)

I think you're confusing the word "can" and "must". A Jew can become an Israeli citizen. The issue here is that many of these people are not choosing to be China's citizens and yet are considered such.

I did not use the word "can" or "must". Those are not my words.

I said Isreal was "open to" certain people, which is an accurate description of the policy. Where citizenship suitability is at issue, such as an asylum claim or immigration/visa application, religious factors then come into play. I made no mention of Israel claiming control or forcing citizenship on anyone.

So it's not like a "claim of ownership" to people and not relevant to the comment you replied to?

You've really got an axe to grind, don't you?

Israel GRANTS citizenship to people of Jewish ancestry. It doesn't claim ownership of them like China is doing in this scenario.

Did these people enter China with a visa? Many Chinese parents sign a document to give up foreign citizenship for their children on entrance into China, so their children don't need a visa, and can enjoy benefits like health care and free education in China. That's how China can claim their Chinese citizenship.

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