"Little Devils," a national apology for losing at table tennis, & outrage over an "ugly" photo: The Week's top "China at the Tokyo Olympics" news - - China Boss update 7.30.21
Update
‘Little Devils’: Olympic Loss Spurs China-Japan ‘Blood Feud’ (Zijia Song, The Daily Beast)
Read if you’d like to see how China’s “nationalistic trolls” are displaying their “deep-rooted hatred of Japan” during this summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
Song, The Daily Beast:
In the past few days, users on Weibo—the Chinese equivalent of Twitter—raged about Japan’s leading gold medal count, attacked referees over “unfair rulings,” hurled nasty insults at celebrated Japanese Olympians, calling them “little devils” and “dwarf pirates,” and praised a Chinese artistic gymnastics athlete for choosing an anti-Japan war song for floor music.
The fervor gained momentum on Monday, after Japan’s table tennis pair Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito beat China’s Xin Xu and Shiwen Liu in the mixed doubles. It was the first time since 2004 a country other than China had won gold at the sport in the Olympics.
Losing world dominance in table tennis, a sport that represents immense pride for China, was a major letdown. Even harder to swallow was the fact that the victory went to Japan, a country resented by many in China thanks to the Communist Party’s national ideology and the complicated history between the two nations, including China’s loss in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and World War II-era atrocities like the Nanjing Massacre.
Immediately after China’s defeat on Monday, a flurry of embittered users flooded Weibo with their opinions on the loss. Though some said that it might trigger a good “wake-up call” for the national team to strive for the best, others baselessly suggested that the referees made unfair calls in favor of Japanese athletes.
Chinese Athlete Tearfully Apologizes for Winning Silver in Table Tennis (Viola Zhou, VICE News)
Read to get a sense of just how serious China takes its dominance in table tennis. Wondering how the CCP can keep the Mandate of Heaven after China’s loss to Japan.
Zhou, VICE News:
In categories long dominated by China, such as table tennis and diving, athletes are expected to bag all gold medals. Even silvers would come as major disappointments.
“I kind of failed our team,” Liu, the 30-year-old female athlete, broke down in tears when speaking to state broadcaster CCTV after the match. “I’m sorry, everyone.”
The silver medalists kept straight faces and apologized again at a press conference later.
“We did not make it a good ending for ourselves,” said Xu, the 31-year-old male player. “The whole country was looking forward to this final… I think the entire Chinese team cannot accept this result.”
It does not help ease the pain that the duo were defeated by Japan. Many Chinese hold a grudge against the neighboring country due to the Japanese invasion of China in 1937.
Japan’s victory over China prompted nationalistic anger, with some accusing the Japanese athletes of touching the table and blowing air on the ball, which were banned at the Tokyo Olympics to minimize COVID-19 contagion risks.
Japanese actor Yuki Furukawa came under intense attack for posting the message “you watching the olympic[s]?” on Chinese social site Weibo following the match. Internet users accused him of mocking China.
Furukawa hit back by calling the criticism “rude and sad.” But he later deleted both posts and apologized. “really didnt mean for all this,” he wrote. “i asked at the wrong timing. should have been more careful of my words.”
The top voted comments include a picture of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and a photo of the actor’s pictures being torn up.
Emphasis added.
Tokyo Olympics 2021: China rips Reuters for 'shameless' photo (Daniel Rainbird, Yahoo Sports)
Read for a laugh and to get a sense of how widespread sexism still is among the Chinese elite. Apparently, if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and staff at Global Times have their way, women must look great even while lifting more than twice their body weight for Olympic gold. Idiots.
Rainbird, Yahoo Sports:
Chinese diplomats and media are upset with Reuters over an unflattering cover photo of weightlifting gold medallist Zhihui Hou.
The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka denounced the “ugly” news outlet’s picture after Reuters published the photo in a report on Hou’s gold medal win for China on July 24, claiming its use was politically motivated.
China’s state-run newspaper, the Global Times, also published a story accusing some Western media outlets of unfairly targeting China in their Olympic coverage.
The picture shows Hou with a strenuous expression while lifting the bar.
“Among all the photos of the game, Reuters has chosen this one, which only shows how ugly they are,” the Chinese embassy of Sri Lanka said in a tweet.
“Don't put politics and ideologies above sports, and call yourself an unbiased media organization. Shameless.
“Respect the spirit of #Olympics."
The Chinese Sports Machine’s Single Goal: The Most Golds, at Any Cost (Hannah Beech, NYT)
Read to discover how the old Soviet model of “breaking little girls backs” for Olympic gold is, still, very much alive and well in China.
Hannah Beech, NYT:
Six days a week since she was 12 years old, with only a few days of time away each year, Hou Zhihui has been driven by one mission: heaving more than double her body weight into the air.
On Saturday, at the Tokyo Olympics, Hou’s dedication — sequestered from her family, dogged by near constant pain — paid off. She won gold in the 49-kilogram division and shattered three Olympic records, part of a fearsome Chinese women’s weight lifting squad that aimed to sweep every weight class it was contesting.
“The Chinese weight lifting team is very cohesive, and the support from the entire team is very good,” Hou, 24, said after winning gold. “The only thing we athletes think about is focusing on training.”
China’s sports assembly line is designed for one purpose: churning out gold medals for the glory of the nation. Silver and bronze barely count. By fielding 413 athletes in Tokyo, the largest number since the Beijing Games in 2008, China aims to land at the top of the gold medal count — even if the Chinese public is increasingly wary of the sacrifices made by individual athletes.
“We must resolutely ensure we are first in gold medals,” Gou Zhongwen, the head of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said on the eve of the Tokyo Olympics.
Hong Kong crowd booing China's anthem sparks probe (BBC News on MSN)
Read if you’d like a reminder that many Hong Kongers will probably never consider themselves Chinese nationals.
BBC:
Hundreds gathered at a shopping mall on Monday to watch a broadcast and cheer on Hong Kong fencer Edgar Cheung, who won gold in the men's individual foil.
When the Chinese national anthem was played, some in the crowd began jeering while others shouted "We are Hong Kong", video filmed at the scene shows.
It is illegal to insult the anthem under a recently passed law.
Anyone found guilty of flouting the national anthem law could be jailed up to three years and fined HK$50,000 (£4,600, $6,400).
Reports also said that the British colonial flag was flown and some had chanted protest slogans, which could possibly violate the national security law which forbids anything that incites "secession" and could result in life in jail.
Police sources told local media that they are collecting and examining footage from the mall's security cameras.
The incident took place in the same week as the conviction of the first person charged under the national security law.
东京奥运:中国体操选手用“抗日曲”引热议 (“Tokyo Olympics: Chinese gymnasts use "anti-Japanese music" to attract heated discussion,” Gu Li, Radio France Internationale (RFI))
Read if you’d like to see how Chinese Olympic handlers never miss a beat when it comes to ingratiating themselves with the top chiefs in Beijing. The choice of an old, anti-Japan war song for a Chinese gymnast floor routine at the Tokyo Olympics must have been a particular delight for President Xi, and you can be sure that the women’s national gymnastics team coach, who is, after all, a state employee will be nicely rewarded. Note: This article is in Chinese, but if you don’t read the language - you can install and use the Google Translate ap.
Here’s what Peter W. Humphrey said on Linked In:
Canadian swimmer's success throws spotlight on China's one-child policy (Nectar Gan and Steve George, CNN)
Read if you want to know how Chinese society is beginning to understand the implications of the state’s one-child policy.
Margaret MacNeil shot to international fame Monday after winning the women's 100-meter butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics, setting an Americas continental record at her very first Games.
In China, however, the 21-year-old was drawing wide attention for another reason, as news spread that the Canadian girl who beat China's top woman swimmer, Zhang Yufei, by 0.05 seconds was actually born in China and adopted as a baby by a Canadian couple.
The subject of MacNeil soon lit up Chinese social media. A hashtag about her victory became the top trending topic on Chinese microblogging site Weibo on Monday morning, and has since drawn nearly 400 million views.
Much of the attention has focused on her Chinese heritage -- and reflections over the wider social and political circumstances that led to her adoption by a foreign family.
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I’m now fully vaccinated and should be good for the drive south to a warm beach next month. Unfortunately, I’d had to buy a bigger swimsuit as it seems I spent too much of the lock-down enjoying Belgian frites, chocolate, and beer while reading infinite wads of China news. But I regret nothing. Except the workouts I didn’t do.
Have a great weekend.