Lin Yuwei and Wu Yanni, China’s entrants in the women’s 100m hurdles final, embraced after the race at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. Lin won gold in the race with a time of 12.74 seconds. A photograph of the two women in profile showed Lin’s lane number, 6, next to Wu’s lane number, 4.

“6/4” is a common reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre in the early hours of 4 June 1989. Discussion of the killings and the protests that preceded them are strictly controlled in China, with a wide range of references routinely scrubbed from China’s internet.

Posts on Chinese social media app Weibo that mention the two athletes hugging showed grey squares where the photograph should have been.

  • JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Is this worse than them censoring actual references to Tiananmen Square? This is relatively harmless photo of athletes hugging, sure it’s a feel good photo but it doesn’t really matter to most Chinese people if they see it. Whereas things that actually are related to Tiananmen Square would make a much greater positive impact on Chinese people otherwise blind to their government’s shortcomings.

    • unoriginalsin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Is this worse than them censoring actual references to Tiananmen Square?

      This is an actual reference to Tiananmen Square. And if it wasn’t before the censorship, it certainly is now.

    • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Worse is subjective, but I’d say this is definitely more oppressive.

      • snooggums@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        It is most likely an example of how far they are going already ro suppress anything that could possibly be related and it just happened to be noticed this time.

        So the same thing really, but worse than what is generally known.

  • ivanafterall@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    It’s like The Tell-Tale Heart. The guilt is haunting them and they see Tienanmen Square everywhere they look. THE SOUND OF THE HEARTBEAT IS MADDENING!

    • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
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      1 year ago

      I think anyone that thinks they care about Tiananmen as anything but standard “deny everything and suppress all criticism” policy should look up the casualties from the occupation of Tibet, the Cultural Revolution, and the current Uyghur genocide.

  • Microw@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I have had hexbear users tell me that talking about Tainanmen isnt actually persecuted in China. Would really like to know what they think aboutthese ccensorship blocks.