Hu Na
| Country (sports) |
 United States
|
|---|---|
| Residence | Taipei City, Taiwan |
| Born |
April 16, 1963 Chengdu, Sichuan, China |
| Retired | 1991 |
| Prize money | US$ 208,560 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 75-97 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 48 (February 29, 1988) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (1987) |
| French Open | 2R (1990) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1985) |
| US Open | 2R (1985, 1986) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 45-67 |
| Career titles | 1 |
| Highest ranking | No. 49 (June 25, 1990) |
Hu Na (Chinese: 胡娜; pinyin: Hú Nà; born April 16, 1963) is a former professional tennis player best known for defecting from the People's Republic of China to the United States in 1982, thereby sparking a Cold War-era diplomatic incident. Diplomatic relations between the two countries had been established in 1979, and the Hu Na incident was among the first major tests of those newly established relations.
Hu Na was a young and rising tennis star from China's Sichuan province. She had a talent for sports from a very early age, and spent several hours practicing every day. Noting her talent, her father was able to enroll her in a special athletic school. She took a special interest in tennis, going on to win first at the Sichuan provincial level competition, then the national level young tennis tournament, making her China's top-ranked tennis player. At this point, she was invited to join the China national women's tennis team, based in Beijing.
In July 1982, while touring California with a Chinese government-sponsored tennis team, on her second day in America, Hu Na fled her hotel room and sought refuge in the home of friends. In April 1983, she requested political asylum, stating that she had a "well-founded" fear of persecution because of repeatedly refusing to join the Communist Party of China.
The US government allowed her to remain in America while it considered her request. It delayed nearly eight months in making a decision. On the one hand, Hu Na had considerable sympathy from President Reagan's administration and from the American public, but on the other hand, American diplomats knew that to grant Hu Na asylum would almost certainly damage relations with China and possibly drive it closer to the Soviet Union.
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Wikipedia