Hong Kong CNN —China appears to have censored a photograph of two Chinese hurdlers embracing after a race because their lane numbers formed an accidental reference to the Tiananmen massacre in 1989.
The image captures Lin Yuwei, from lane 6, and Wu Yanni, in lane 4, hugging following the women’s 100-meter hurdles final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
As they stood together, stickers showing their lane numbers formed “6 4”, a pairing widely seen as a reference to June 4, 1989.
That day Chinese military tanks rolled into the capital Beijing during a bloody crackdown to clear students protesting for democracy in Tiananmen Square.
State broadcaster CCTV originally posted the photograph on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media service, on Sunday night, but removed it from its account about an hour later, CNN has found.
Persons:
Lin Yuwei, Wu Yanni, China’s
Organizations:
Hong Kong CNN, Asian, CCTV, China’s Twitter, CNN, Weibo, Baidu, Google, Xinhua, Propaganda Department, Chinese Communist Party, Communist Party
Locations:
Hong Kong, China, Hangzhou, Beijing, Tiananmen Square, Weibo