China appears to censor image of athletes embracing at Asian Games after unintended Tiananmen Square massacre reference
The move appears to come after Lin Yuwei was embraced by Wu Yanni after the 100m hurdles final at the Asian Games, with their race numbers forming '64'. Chinese authorities routinely block any mention or reference to the infamous crackdown on 4 June 1989.
Wednesday 4 October 2023 13:20, UK
A picture showing two female Chinese athletes which makes an unintentional reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre appears to have been censored on social media in China.
Gold medal winner Lin Yuwei was being embraced by Wu Yanni after the 100m hurdles final at the Asian Games when their race numbers formed '64'.
The number is seen as a reference to the 4 June massacre in 1989, when hundreds of pro-democracy protesters were shot dead by troops.
The picture had been posted on Weibo, which is one of China's biggest social media platforms, but appeared to later be unavailable.
The image also appears to be missing in any search results on Baidu, the popular search engine in China. Google is already blocked by the authorities.
The race took place in Hangzhou on 1 October, China's National Day.
Estimates of the number killed during the massacre 34 years ago range from several hundred into the thousands.
The Chinese authorities routinely block any mention or reference to the massacre on the internet.
Any mention or pairing of numbers which could reference the date of the massacre are tightly controlled by China.
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The Chinese military carried out a bloody crackdown to clear students from Tiananmen Square during the pro-democracy protests.
Campaigners still hold protests to mark the anniversary of the infamous event.