Jus sanguinis became the basis of a royal proclamation by the Manchu emperor that all people of Chinese descent could return to China at will. This was later adapted into China’s first citizenship law in 1909 whichclaimed every child of a Chinese father or mother, as a Chinese citizen. What this means is that as long as you have Chinese blood, you were, in the eyes of the Chinese government, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China regardless of where you were born.