TOKYO|
The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka criticized Reuters for its photo choice about Zhihui Hou’s first-place finish in the Women’s 49kg Weightlifting competition.
Hou set Olympic records in three different categories — snatch, clean and jerk, and total — bagged gold on July 24 with a total of 210 kilograms (462.971 pounds) and created a new Olympic Record.The photo in question — shown below — appears to capture Hou straining as she hoists the barbell above her waist:
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Among all the photos of the game, <a href=”https://twitter.com/Reuters?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Reuters</a> has chosen this one, which only shows how ugly they are. <br><br>Don't put politics and ideologies above sports, and call yourself an unbiased media organization. Shameless. <br><br>Respect the spirit of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Olympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Olympics</a>. <a href=”https://t.co/FugQm9obGr”>https://t.co/FugQm9obGr</a></p>— Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka (@ChinaEmbSL) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ChinaEmbSL/status/1418836358643204097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
In a message posted through its official Twitter account, embassy officials accused Reuters of putting “politics and ideologies above sports” by selecting a photo that “only shows how ugly they are.”Shameless,” they added.Hou set Olympic records in three different categories — snatch, clean and jerk, and total — during her hardware-earning performance at the games. Her 210 kg — or roughly 463-pound — haul left the 4-foot-10 star just three kilos shy of breaking her own world record.
The Chinese embassy’s tweet didn’t mention any of it. And when Twitter users pushed back on the assertion that the photo in question was “ugly” or used in a mean-spirited manner, the embassy doubled down on its accusations.”Same day, same Olympics, same Reuters, different faces,” the embassy wrote on Twitter Saturday. “Maybe it’s because everything good in life comes easier for the white westerners?”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Same day, same Olympics, same <a href=”https://twitter.com/Reuters?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Reuters</a> , different faces. Maybe it's because everything good in life comes easier for the white westerners?<br><br>We said that these biased MSM are ugly. Never the athletes. They're beautiful, no matter their colors and nationalities. <a href=”https://t.co/1QTE888uYP”>https://t.co/1QTE888uYP</a> <a href=”https://t.co/KTUjfrdeCi”>pic.twitter.com/KTUjfrdeCi</a></p>— Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka (@ChinaEmbSL) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ChinaEmbSL/status/1418972113478721539?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>