2023-10-04 13:46:27
Chinese athletes Lin Yuwei (left) and Wu Yenni, running on track numbers 6 and 4, respectively, at the Hangzhou Asian Games and wearing ‘6’ and ‘4’ stickers, are hugging each other. /Archyde.com News1
Chinese state media deleted photos of athletes hugging and wearing ‘6’ and ‘4’ stickers while running on tracks 6 and 4, respectively, at the Hangzhou Asian Games track and field competition. China strictly prohibits mentioning or commemorating the Tiananmen Square incident on June 4, 1989. Accordingly, there is an interpretation that the decision to delete a photo with the numbers 6 and 4 in the frame at the Asian Games was conscious of this.
The scene in question was exposed on the 1st, China’s National Day. On this day, Chinese athlete Lin Yu Wei, who won the gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles final at the Hangzhou Asian Games, hugged her silver medalist, her country’s teammate Wu Yan Ni, on the track. Coincidentally, the track numbers on which the two athletes ran were 6 and 4, respectively. Accordingly, the two athletes ran with stickers with these numbers written on their hips, and the numbers 6 and 4 were shown side by side in a photo of them hugging.
‘6·4’ is considered one of the targets of censorship in China because it reminds us of the incident on June 4, 1989, when the Chinese authorities bloody suppressed citizens demanding democratization in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. In places like Hong Kong and Taiwan, every year on June 4th, candles are lit at 6:04 PM on June 4th to commemorate those who died protesting at Tiananmen Square, giving meaning to ‘6·4’, but in China, it is not mentioned. It is completely banned.
Lin Yuwei (left) and Wu Yenni are running side by side. /Archyde.com News1
This photo was posted on China’s state-run CCTV Weibo account and immediately drew backlash from local netizens. Some netizens mentioned a photo of Uyen-ni, who wore number 8 in the preliminary round of this event, meeting and shaking hands with Korea’s Cho Eun-ju (number 9), and pointed out that it was completed in the year ‘1989’. Currently, the photo has been deleted from CCTV Weibo.
Regarding this, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, “It appears that Chinese authorities have censored photos of the Tiananmen Square incident.” SCMP said, “The expression 6/4 is a general expression referring to the Tiananmen Square incident that occurred on June 4th 34 years ago,” and added, “For this reason, related expressions are frequently censored and deleted by the Chinese authorities.”
This incident was also featured in several major foreign media outlets, including the BBC and CNN. The BBC said, “Discussion of the Tiananmen Square incident is still taboo in China, and authorities regularly remove mentions of the topic from the Internet,” adding, “Images of players hugging while wearing number 6 and 4 stickers. “It was censored,” he said. CNN said, “It appears that the photo was censored because the track numbers of the two athletes coincidentally reminded us of the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989,” and added, “This scene was captured on October 1, China’s national holiday, and on this day, the authorities interfered with the celebration. “It is a sensitive time to be more alert to possible signs.”
Meanwhile, Uyenni, who won the silver medal in the event, was later disqualified for a false start.
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