The upside is that he was occupying a slot that might otherwise been filled with a Chinese-born “US” naval engineer.
That will be in the next hire and the final determining factor since there are no native born engineers apparently.
Related: Report: Chinese Navy’s Fleet Will Outnumber U.S. by 2020 http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/03/report-chinese-navys-fleet-will-outnumber-us-by-2020/print