BEIJING — Chinese basketball fans want to know — will Yao Ming's baby be an American?

The Houston Rockets center recently returned to the United States with wife Ye Li. That prompted speculation among his followers that the baby girl due this summer could be born in America.

Chinese fans online have said that would be a betrayal of China — in part because it could deny the country a future star for the national team. Ye is also a basketball player, and stands 6 feet, 2 inches tall — still well short of Yao's 7-6.

Yao's baby would automatically be an American citizen if born in the U.S. She also could claim Chinese citizenship as the child of Chinese nationals, though Chinese law does not recognize dual citizenship.