When former world badminton No.1 Zhou Mi announced her decision to play for Hong Kong after the New Year, she became one more homegrown Chinese athlete to become a rival for important tournaments, and even the 2008 Olympics.

Zhou, 28, left the national team in 2005 due to lingering injuries and decreased court time since the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where she won bronze after being upset in the semis by teammate and eventual gold medalist current World No.1 Zhang Ning

Zhou's move generated dissatisfaction from chief coach Li Yongbo last summer, when rumors of Zhou's possible transfer to Malaysia were everywhere. "She should know who made her into a top player," Li said. "She should know the seriousness of her decision. If she chooses to play for another nationality, it is harming national interests."

But Li immediately approved of her transfer to Hong Kong because "they are all Chinese athletes" and "it doesn't make a difference whether they play in the mainland or in Hong Kong".

Hong Kong is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and though it has since returned to the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China, it is still qualified to participate in the Olympics under the name of Chinese Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's Olympic medals are not counted as medals for China.

Despite Li's obvious disapproval of Chinese players transferring to other international teams, some sports fans think it is ok. An opinion piece in the Beijing News written by a reader of the paper said that worries that players that transfer to foreign teams will only serve to make them stronger present a narrow view. "Sports are more enjoyable when there are more powers competing, rather than one single powerhouse," the reader wrote.

This falls in line with the popular expression 'sports without boundaries', a motto taken up among sports fans worldwide that embodies their commitment to their favorite athletes, regardless of who they play for.

Zhou now is teammate of Wang Chen, another so-called "traitor" to China, who knocked out China's world No.2 Xie Xingfang in the quarter-finals and won the Doha Asian Games gold. Then 23-year-old Wang fell out with the national team in 1999 because she complained that she was dropped from China's Uber Cup line-ups that year.

Zhu Chen, China's former world champion chess master, now a Qatari citizen and Lang Ping, former China volleyball team captain and hero of Chinese volleyball's 'golden period' received much less of a negative response. Zhu won bronze for Qatar at last year's Asiad and Lang now is coaching the American women's volleyball team, which has recorded several wins over China.

But the 'national interest' debate was stirred up when Chinese-born table tennis player He Zhili beat Deng Yaping and won gold for Japan at the Hiroshima Asian Games in 1994 and China Basketball Association (CBA) star center Wang Zhizhi refused to return for the national training session for the sake of cementing his NBA foothold.

Zhu and He changed their citizenship through marriage, while Lang and Wang were seeking further career development abroad. However, like Zhou's rumored entry to Malaysia, He and Wang were dogged by accusations of betrayal.

"More players should be allowed to play abroad to sharpen their skills on the international courts. China's players lack international experience," said NBA star center Yao Ming, fresh from the 64-95 second round defeat to eventual runner-up Greece at last year's world basketball championships in Sapporo, Japan.

China's emerging basketball star Yi Jianlian from Guangdong Hongyua, tipped as China's next Yao Ming, finally got approval to enter the 2007 NBA Draft last November after his club didn't allow him to do in 2006, because "it was not the best time for him".