A photograph capturing the heartfelt embrace between two Chinese athletes after a race has undergone censorship on Chinese social media platforms due to an inadvertent reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, The Guardian reports.
During the women’s 100m hurdles final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Lin Yuwei secured the gold medal with a remarkable time of 12.74 seconds. Lin and her teammate, Wu Yanni, hugged after the race, creating a poignant image. However, a photograph taken from the side displayed Lin’s lane number, 6, adjacent to Wu’s lane number, 4.
In China, “6/4” is a well-known reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre that occurred in the early hours of June 4, 1989. Discussions related to the events of that day and the preceding protests are rigorously controlled in China, with a wide range of references routinely purged from the country’s internet. Consequently, posts on Weibo that included the photograph of the two athletes hugging displayed grey squares instead.
It’s noteworthy that the censorship was not uniform, as some Chinese news articles published pictures of the athletes embracing, complete with their lane numbers. Internet censorship in China, particularly concerning images, is often implemented on an ad-hoc basis, with human monitors determining which posts to restrict. Weibo, one of China’s major social media platforms boasting nearly 600 million monthly users, disclosed in 2017 that it employed 1,000 “supervisors” tasked with identifying and reporting “pornographic, illegal, and harmful” content.
The race, which coincided with China’s National Day on October 1, was overshadowed by another controversy involving one of the Chinese athletes. Wu received a red card at the race’s outset for a false start. Following her protest against the decision, she was eventually allowed to compete, finishing second, just 0.03 seconds behind her teammate Lin. However, Wu was subsequently disqualified shortly after the race, granting India’s Jyothi Yarraji the silver medal.
Wu’s initial inclusion in the race raised concerns that race officials were reluctant to disqualify one of China’s prominent athletes, irrespective of sporting regulations. Mark Dreyer, a sports analyst based in China who attended the event, remarked afterward: “It just felt like the local officials needed to find a way to let Wu run.”
Hours following her disqualification, Wu issued an apology to her supporters on Weibo, stating, “I am very sorry that I was disqualified due to a false start. I failed to live up to everyone’s expectations and disappointed everyone!” Wu’s post garnered tens of thousands of supportive comments. In contrast, posts on Weibo by ordinary users showing the greyed-out squares representing Wu and Lin’s “6/4” hug received more restrained responses. One Weibo user wrote: “The 1989 Asian Games.”
