Has China Won 44 Gold Medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics? - Chinese Cyber Nationalists Claim Hong Kong and Taiwan Must Be Included in the Medal Count!

On August 11, the 2024 Paris Olympics wrapped up with the final medal count showing a tie between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Both teams finished the competition with 40 gold medals, but the US took the overall lead with 126 medals, leaving the PRC trailing with 91.

However, PRC cyber-nationalists are not ready to accept this outcome. They insist that China actually won 44 gold medals!

As the Olympics drew to a close on Sunday, PRC state media outlet CCTV News took to the micro-blogging platform Weibo to announce the results of the games:

“China is tied for first place in the gold medal list,” CCTV wrote. “Today, all the competitions in Paris have concluded. The Chinese delegation has won 40 gold medals, 27 silver medals and 24 bronze medals—an outstanding performance! Share this proudly, remember this glorious moment, and pay tribute to the Chinese athletes! #IAmProudOfTheChineseTeam.”

But Chinese cyber-nationalists aka “little pinks” (小粉红) would have none of it. Some of them criticised CCTV, arguing that China has won 44 medals and thus beaten the US.

“No no no, we [won] 44, we also have Taipei and Hong Kong, they are parts of China (不不不,我们44块,我们有台北和香港,他们都是中国的一部分),” wrote one user in the comments.

“China's main team 40, China's Hong Kong team 2, China's Taiwan team 2, China's gold medal count 44 (中国中央队40,中国香港队2,中国台湾队2,中国金牌数44),” a netizen remarked.

“Who tied for first place? We have a total of 44 medals: 40+2+2 (谁跟你并列第一啊我们一共44块40+2+2),” commented another.

Source: Weibo

Memes showing a medal count of 44 for China soon began to circulate online.

Chinese netizens created an "updated" version of the medal table, via Weibo

These seemingly trivial arguments over Olympic golds highlight real political tensions. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims Taiwan as part of the PRC and has vowed to use force to annex it.

Taiwan competes at the Olympics as “Chinese Taipei,” a term designed to appease the PRC. Taiwan agreed to this name in 1981 to participate in the Olympic Games without asserting sovereignty, a compromise with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

On March 24, 1981, the New York Times wrote:

“A dispute that has disrupted the Olympic Games for years was resolved today when China and Taiwan signed an agreement at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee, ending two years of litigation and bickering … Under the agreement, Taiwan representatives accepted a new name for the committee, a new flag and a new Olympic emblem replacing the old pre-revolution insignia, under which the Taipei leadership claimed to speak for all of China.”

The NYT noted that Taiwan had been part of the Olympic movement under the name Republic of China (ROC) until 1979, using the ROC’s flag and national anthem. Beijing refused to compete in the Olympics while Taiwan was recognized in this way by the IOC.

“Little pinks” are known for spreading nationalistic narratives online. Under the environment of heavy censorship in the PRC, it is notable that the regime allows such discourse to spread. Whether cyber-nationalists are real people, or state-backed propagandists, or a mix of both, cannot be established due to the purposefully opaque nature of the PRC’s internet and government structures.

The Adventure of Urashima Taro , by Aris Teon

Breeze of a Spring Evening and Other Stories, by Yu Dafu

Craven A and other Stories, by Mu Shiying

The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan's Defense and American Strategy in Asia, by Ian Easton

The Sounds of Mandarin: Learning to Speak a National Language in China and Taiwan, 1913-1960, by Janet Y. Chen

The Oil Vendor and the Queen of Flowers: A Tale From Ancient China, by Feng Menglong

Comments

The Window Trick of Las Vegas Hotels

When I lived in Hong Kong I often passed by a residential apartment complex commonly known as the " monster building ". " Interior of the Yick Cheong Building November 2016 " by Nick-D is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 . _____

Living in Taiwan: Seven Reasons Why It's Good to Be Here

Chinese New Year can be a pretty boring time for a foreigner. All of my friends were celebrating with their families, and since I have no family here, nor have I a girlfriend whose family I could join, I had nothing special to do. Shops and cafes were closed - apart from big chains like McDonald's or Starbucks, which were overcrowded anyway. So I had a lot of time to think. On Saturday evening I went out to buy my dinner. While I was walking around, I heard the voices of the people inside their homes, the sounds of their New Year celebrations. Then I suddenly asked myself: "What on earth are you doing here? Why are you still in Taiwan?" Before I came to Taiwan, some Taiwanese friends of mine had recommended me their country, highly prasing it and going so far as to say that Taiwan is a "paradise for foreigners" (bear in mind that when I say foreigners I mean 'Westerners'). "It's easy for foreigners to find a job," t

Is China's MINISO Copying Japan's MUJI, UNIQLO and Daiso?

Over the past few years Japanese retailers such as UNIQLO and MUJI have conquered foreign markets, opening shops in cities such as Paris, Berlin or New York and becoming household names in several countries. But the success of their business model seems to have inspired people with dubious intentions. As the website Daliulian recently showed, a new chain called MINISO, which claims to be a Japanese company selling ‘100% Japanese products’, seems to be nothing more than a knock-off of UNIQLO, MUJI and Daiso, copying their logos, names and even the layout of their stores. The company’s webpage proudly announces – in terrible English – that “ MINISO is a fast fashion designer brand of Japan. Headquartered in Tokyo Japan, Japanese young designer Miyake Jyunya is founder as well as the chief designer of MINISO, a pioneer in global 'Fashion & Casual Superior Products' field. ” According to the company’s homepage, MINISO advocates the philosophy of a simple,

Macau: Gambling, Corruption, Prostitution, and Fake Worlds

As I mentioned in my previous post , Macau has different faces and identities: there is the old Macau, full of colonial buildings and in which the pace of life seems to resemble a relaxed Mediterranean town rather than a bustling, hectic Chinese city, such as Hong Kong or Shanghai. On the other hand, there is the Macau of gambling, of gigantic hotel and casino resorts, and of prostitution. These two Macaus seem to be spatially separated from each other, with an intact colonial city centre and nice outskirts with small alleys on the one side, and bombastic, modern buildings on the other. The Galaxy - one of the huge casino and hotel resorts The Importance of Gambling for Macau's Economy Dubbed the 'Monte Carlo of the East', Macau has often been portrayed as the gambling capital of China. Media reporting on Macau tend present pictures of the city's glistening, apparently luxurious skyline. But a visit in Macau suffices to realize that it is fa

Trip to Tainan

Tainan Train Station Last weekend I made a one day trip to the Southern Taiwanese city of Tainan (Chinese: 臺南, pinyin: Táinán), the former capital and one of the most important centres of culture, history and architecture of the island. This blog post is also intended as a special thank to Grace, a Taiwanese friend who was so kind to show me around, and very patient, too. Since Tainan doesn't have an extensive public transport net, Grace picked me up at the train station with her motorcycle, a vehicle that, along with cars, is regarded by locals as indispensable for living comfortably in Tainan. To my great embarrassment, though, I had to admit that I cannot ride a motorcycle. That's why we had to take busses to move around. It was the first time she ever took a bus in Tainan. And now I know why: busses come more or less every half an hour, and service stops early in the evening. No wonder Tainanese snob public transport. Grace had no idea about the routes and about whe

Schedium

Search This Blog