Amid Growing Anti-China Sentiment... Chinese Media: "Korea Should Stop Hostile Feelings and Promote Bilateral Relations"

Hwang Daeheon of the Korean short track speed skating national team is competing in the men's 1000m semifinal race on the afternoon of the third day of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, held at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China. He is being challenged by China's Li Wenlong (No. 94) and Ren Ziwei.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] As anti-China sentiment spread in South Korea following the controversy over hanbok at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony and biased judgments in short track speed skating, Chinese media reported that hostile feelings should be stopped and bilateral relations improved.

On the 11th, the English edition of the Chinese state-run media Global Times, operated by Huanqiu Shibao, focused on the controversial hanbok incident at the opening ceremony and the short track judgment cases during this Olympics, reporting, "This year marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China, so the Korean side should stop unreasonable propaganda against anti-China sentiment."

The media analyzed that after Hwang Daeheon and Lee Junseo were disqualified for rule violations in the previously held men's 1000m short track race, China's Ren Ziwei and Li Wenlong won the gold and silver medals respectively, stating, "South Korea was a powerhouse in short track, so the failure to win medals after the disqualification caused great disappointment among the public."

It also reported that online disputes escalated between Chinese and Korean netizens due to this, with Korean netizens expressing outrage toward Viktor An (Ahn Hyun-soo), the technical coach of the Chinese short track team.

Furthermore, the media introduced an expert's claim that Korean politicians are exploiting this controversy to incite anti-China sentiment and sow discord in South Korea-China relations.

In an interview with the media, L? Chao, a researcher at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences in China, said, "Short track races are fast and highly competitive, so controversies related to disqualifications are common," adding, "However, some Korean netizens' negative reactions are somewhat irrational, and some politicians are promoting anti-China sentiment to gain more votes during this election period."

Meanwhile, the controversy began when a woman wearing hanbok appeared as a representative of a Chinese ethnic minority at the Olympic opening ceremony held on the 4th.

Domestic netizens strongly opposed this, saying, "China's act of claiming hanbok, a traditional Korean costume, as its own," and especially criticized it as "cultural invasion," fearing that foreigners watching the opening ceremony might mistake hanbok for Chinese clothing.

Amid this, domestic anti-China sentiment exploded as controversies over biased judgments in the Olympic short track events continued. On the 7th, in the men's 1000m short track semifinals, Hwang Daeheon and Lee Junseo were disqualified despite finishing the race well due to questionable judgments. Subsequently, Chinese athletes who placed third in their heats advanced to the finals.

The shameless attitude of Chinese netizens also became an issue. They left abusive comments on the personal SNS accounts of Korean short track athletes, accusing the Korean team of frequent fouls. They also poured out criticisms on Weibo (the Chinese version of Twitter), saying things like "Can't compete without fouling" and "Players who broke the rules."

Additionally, they left Korea-bashing comments on the SNS account of the American game company The Sims, which posted images of a male and female couple character wearing hanbok, claiming, "Hanbok and Lunar New Year belong to China."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.