China Memes & Viral

Japanese Gold Medalist Becomes a Meme in China after Controversial Men’s Gymnastics All-Around

Weibo’s Olympic meme machine has begun!

Published

4 years ago

July 29, 2021

The Olympic Games are in full swing and Chinese social media users are building on their meme collections as online discussions are getting more intense on Weibo – especially when it comes to competitions between China and Japan.

Japanese athlete Daiki Hashimoto (橋本大輝) won the gold for men’s gymnastics individual all-around on the sixth day of the Tokyo Olympics. China’s Xiao Ruoteng (肖若腾), who had been leading the competition in the first five rotations, claimed the silver medal after the team’s inquiry over his score of 14.066 in the last rotation was rejected.

Online discussions arose as videos and pictures of Hashimoto’s landing pose in the vaulting event were shared by some netizens on Weibo, questioning if Hashimoto deserves a score of 14.7 as he failed to end with a stable landing.

A video made by Shanghai Oriental Sports Daily compares the performances of the two athletes and shows how the scoring leaves people confused; the two gymnasts performed the same routine and ended in completely different poses (land firmly vs. stumble while landing and stepping out of line), yet they only had a score difference of 0.166.

Some Chinese gymnasts also posted on Weibo and hinted at the scoring controversy.

Li Xiaopeng (李小鹏), the male gymnast who currently holds 16 world titles, called the result “a pity” in a Weibo post published on July 28. He wrote: “Congratulations on the second place. The fact is not that I do not understand [the game] – it’s that I understand it all too well.”

Gymnast Chen Yibing (陈一冰), four-time world champion on still rings who himself experienced disputed scoring at the 2012 Summer Olympics, wrote: “No matter what the result is, Sun Wei and Xiao Ruoteng are perfect! Xiao Ruoteng IS the champion.”

More than 10 related hashtags appeared in the top 30 of Weibo’s top search list after the competition, even though it was already late at night in China. The hashtag relating to the judges of the Olympic gymnastics (#体操裁判#) received about 640 million views.

A screenshot of the Weibo’s trending list at Beijing Time 11:15 pm on July 28, showing 12 hashtags related to the competition of Men’s Gymnastics Individual All-Around.

Online discussions on the controversial gymnastics’ scoring then shifted, setting off a wave of content creation. Some memes mocking the new champion’s landing pose in the event of vault went viral on Weibo.

“I am the champion”

“See, I got 14.7 points with this.”

“I split, I step out of line, but I got 14.7 and I am the world champion.”

“Let me go down and pick up a gold medal.”

“Judge: This is perfect! The feet are still on the ground! 14.7!”

This is not the first controversy that generated heated discussions and set off a meme machine on Weibo since the Summer Olympics kicked off.

Monday’s mixed doubles table tennis final between China and Japan (Jun Mizutani/Mima Ito vs Xin Xu/Shiwen Liu) also became a major topic, especially because the Chinese players were defeated by their Japanese counterparts and won silver instead of gold. For the past 14 years, China had monopolized the gold medals in table tennis.

One moment that stood out is when Xu Xin (许昕), a Chinese professional table tennis player who is ranked world’s No. 2 for men’s singles by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), entertained social media users by holding his breath immediately after he realized he was going to blow on the ping pong ball (see video here).

“Xu Xin Wants to Blow, Then Stops”

He did so because of the new anti-epidemic rules during the Tokyo Olympics. Some of these regulations include that players are not allowed to touch the game table with their hands and that they are not allowed to blow on the ball.

The hashtag “Xu Xin Wants to Blow, Then Stops” (#许昕欲吹又止#) that described Xu’s cautiousness went trending and generating about 450 million views on Weibo.

Another related hashtag is “Jun Mizutani Blows on the Ball” (#水谷隼吹球#). The hashtag is about the moment when the Japanese table tennis player blows on the ball during the event but does not receive a warning from judges (see video here). The hashtag has so far generated about 820 million views on Weibo.

“Jun Mizutani Blows on the Ball”

Going against COVID19 regulations, Japanese table tennis player Mima Itō also touched the table several times, but the referee apparently did not notice or turned a blind eye. This also led to a Weibo hashtag page (#伊藤美诚也多次摸球桌#) and several memes.

Another hashtag, “Japanese Players Swimming on the Chinese Players” (#日本选手压在中国选手身上游# ), describes another moment during the Olympics that happened during the Chinese and Japanese women’s water polo team competition on July 28, when a Chinese player was pushed underwater by a Japanese player while swimming. Some Weibo users suggested the move was dangerous and ‘could have killed’ her (see video here).

As the Games continue, the meme collections grow as online discussions are getting more intense on Weibo – especially when it comes to competitions between China and Japan.

In response to the ongoing controversies, the Central Communist Youth League of China (@共青团中央) published the video of the judges taking the Olympic oath during the opening ceremony and asked: “Have you followed your oath?”

A picture of a training venue for Chinese weightlifters was widely shared on Weibo because the slogan on the wall says: “To win a clean gold medal” (#中国选手的训练场馆拿干净金牌#).

Chinese netizens applauded this principle of a ‘clean’ victory and have started to use the picture to call for fewer tricks during the rest of the Olympic competitions.

By Wendy Huang
Follow @whatsonweibo

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Wendy Huang

Wendy Huang is a China-based Beijing Language and Culture University graduate who currently works for a Public Relations & Media software company. She believes that, despite the many obstacles, Chinese social media sites such as Weibo can help Chinese internet users to become more informed and open-minded regarding various social issues in present-day China.

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China Memes & Viral

Strange Encounter During IShowSpeed’s Chengdu Livestream

The cosplaying girl, who usd the n-word and told the American YouTuber how racist she was, seems to have been referencing a meme.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 31, 2025

Manya Koetse

After visiting Shanghai, Beijing, and the Shaolin Temple in Henan, popular American YouTuber IShowSpeed (Darren Watkins) livestreamed from Chengdu on March 31.

During his stream, he visited a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, tried acupuncture, had some extremely spicy hotpot, and continued doing the kinds of activities that have defined his China tour so far – from kung fu to the Forbidden City.

The trip has been a success not just for Watkins, who recently surpassed 37 million YouTube subscribers, but also for China’s image abroad. Some have even suggested it’s become more of a soft power or propaganda tour (read more in our latest newsletter).

But not everything has gone smoothly. Within the span of a week, Watkins has become significantly more famous in China. In addition to YouTube — which is not accessible in China — he also began streaming on Douyin. All of this made his March 31st livestream a bit more chaotic, and for the first time, he also experienced some connection issues.

In Chengdu, with as many as 4 million viewers watching the livestream on Douyin, one moment in particular sparked controversy online. Just before Watkins entered a car, a girl in cosplay attire approached him and said:

💬 “I am a racist. I am a ni**a killer. I am so sorry about that. But I love your girlfriend, because your girlfriend is my [white?] people.”

When Watkins asked if she spoke English, she replied:

💬 “Yes, I am a racist. I am racist.”

After the incident, Watkins commented:

💬 “I don’t think she understood what she was saying.”

Watch the video here.

The girl was cosplaying as one of the characters from the mobile role-playing game Blue Archive, most likely Saiba Momoi (才羽モモイ), known for her mouse-like appearance, complete with two ears on top of her head.

On Chinese social media platforms, including Weibo and Xiaohongshu, the moment soon became a point of discussion. Among the commenters, there are those fearing the incident will negatively impact the image of Chengdu, and some suggesting the local Tourism & Culture Board will make sure to blacklist the girl.

Others focused more on the background of the girl, suggesting she is from Japan or Hong Kong, and trying to sabotage Watkins’ positive China trip.

It appears, however, that the female cosplayer may have been referencing the “racist Momoi” or “Saiba Momoi Says The N-Word” meme.

This meme originates from an edited clip of Saiba Momoi, in which she appears to say what sounds like the N-word. According to the Danbooru site, the clip was later modified to include other slurs.

The character has also been linked to the “Nàge song.” As explained in our newsletter yesterday, the song “Sunshine, Rainbow, White Pony” (阳光彩虹小白马) by Chinese singer Wowkie Zhang (大张伟), which repeatedly features the Chinese word nàge in its chorus (meaning “uh” or “that”) — popped up multiple times during Watkins’ trip. The catchy tune essentially became the theme song of his visit.

A few years back, a clip of Watkins first hearing the song and mistaking the chorus for the N-word already went viral on Chinese social media. The confusion between the Chinese filler word and the slur has been extensively joked about by Watkins himself throughout his streams.

The connection between the girl, the Saiba Momoi meme, and the Nàge song, however, is only known to a niche audience. It is possible that the girl tried to be funny, but she obviously failed in doing so.

By Manya Koetse

(follow on X, LinkedIn, or Instagram)

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China Digital

Chinese Netizens Turn to Tim Cook Over Battery Factory’s Illegal Overtime

Is turning to Western suppliers an effective way for workers to pressure domestic companies into complying with labor laws?

Published

4 weeks ago

March 20, 2025

Manya Koetse

🇨🇳 CHINA TRENDING WEEK 12: WHAT’S ON WEIBO SHORTS
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Recently, Chinese netizens have started reaching out to Apple and its CEO Tim Cook in order to put pressure on a state-owned battery factory accused of violating labor laws.

The controversy involves the Huizhou factory of Desay Battery (德赛电池), known for producing lithium batteries for the high-end smartphone market, including Apple and Samsung. The factory caught netizens’ attention after a worker exposed in a video that his superiors were deducting three days of wages because he worked an 8-hour shift instead of the company’s “mandatory 10-hour on-duty.” Compulsory overtime violates China’s labor laws.

In response, the worker and other netizens started to let Apple know about the situation through email and social media, trying to put pressure on the factory by highlighting its position in the Apple supply chain. In at least one instance, Apple confirmed receipt of the complaint. (Meanwhile, on Tim Cook’s official Weibo account, the comment section underneath his most recent post is clearly being censored.)

Screenshot of replies on X underneath a post by Tim Cook on International Women’s Day.

The factory, however, has denied the allegations, , claiming that the video creator was spreading untruths and that they had reported him to authorities. His content has since also been removed. A staff member at Desay Battery maintained that they adhere to the 8-hour workday and appropriately compensate workers for overtime.

At the same time, Desay Battery issued an official statement, admitting to “management oversights regarding employee rights protection” (“保障员工权益的管理上存在疏漏”) and promising to do better in safeguarding employee rights.

One NetEase account (大风文字) suggested that for Chinese workers to effectively expose labor violations, reporting them to Western suppliers or EU regulators is an effective way to force domestic companies to respect labor laws.

Another commentary channel (上峰视点) was less optimistic about the effectiveness, arguing that companies like Apple would be quick to drop suppliers over product quality issues but more willing to turn a blind eye to labor violations—since cheap labor remains a key competitive advantage in Chinese manufacturing.

By Manya Koetse

(follow on X, LinkedIn, or Instagram)

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