News Finnish PM apologises to Japan, China and Korea over slant-eye pose

[thomas]

Finland's prime minister has issued apologies to Japan, China, and South Korea after a series of photographs shared by Finnish lawmakers drew criticism for promoting racist stereotypes about Asians. The incident began when this year's Miss Finland posted an image of herself pulling her eyelids back, a gesture widely recognised as offensive, alongside a caption referring to dining with Chinese people. Although she was subsequently stripped of her title, the situation escalated when several members of parliament shared similar images, seemingly in her defence.

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The backlash prompted a formal response through Finland's embassies in Japan, China, and South Korea, which used social media to convey the prime minister's apology and to reaffirm that racism and discrimination are incompatible with Finnish values and have no place in Finnish society.

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Finnish Prime Minister Apologizes Over Slant-Eye Pose

Finland’s prime minister has apologized to Japan, China and South Korea after photographs posted by Finnish lawmakers featuring a so-called “slant-eye” gesture were widely criticized as discriminatory toward Asians.

newsonjapan.com

Sadly, it didn't end there:

Two Finnish members of parliament came under political and public fire for posting photos and videos on social media making a slanted-eyes gesture, widely regarded as racially offensive to Asians. Representatives from the ruling coalition parties were scheduled to meet on 16 December to consider disciplinary action, according to a spokesperson for the prime minister's office. The two parliamentarians belong to the right-wing, anti-immigration Finns Party, a member of the four-party ruling coalition. A Finnish member of the European Parliament also posted a similar photo.

Finnish MPs in hot water over slanted-eyes gesture posts | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

Japan expressed concern to Finland after members of the Finnish ruling coalition posted photos in which they pulled slanted eyes, a gesture offensive to Asians.

Japan expects Finland to act over offensive slant-eyes posts | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[dracuella]

What the actual fork, Suomi?! Be better! We need at least one country in the Nordics who doesn't stoop to Danish and Swedish levels.

 

[Ukigumo]

Miss Finland? She's a childish tit

 

[mdchachi]

At least some good came out of all this.

 

[Ukigumo]

What the actual fork, Suomi?! Be better! We need at least one country in the Nordics who doesn't stoop to Danish and Swedish levels.

That's a disappointing comment for me since I hold the people and those countries in high regard; you seem so civilised!

 

[dracuella]

That's a disappointing comment for me since I hold the people and those countries in high regard; you seem so civilised!

I'm sure it's worse in some places but compared to what it used to be, there does seem to be more hateful rhetoric, especially in certain political parties pandering to the ignorant, the scared, and the old. I'm aware a lot of it is more populistic than actually racist but the result is the same: the fearmongers get elected and in order to ensure they get elected again next time they have to live up to some of the racist promises they made.

At least the worst of the parties got dissolved. It was run by morons who used sophistry to misguide potential voters but their arguments eventually grew so ridiculous that even the dumbest Danes could tell they were stark raving mad.
"If you don't like equal rights and gay people, come join us" and "At least 10 teenagers convert to Islam every week and it's scary" were some of the statements behind one of the party leaders - just to give you an idea of how unhinged they were.

 

[Ukigumo]

We've yet to hit the 'ridiculous threshold'. Farage seems to as Teflon coated as Trump; even 20 of his ex-school mates writing letters saying he used to goose step with the Nazi salute in the play ground, telling Jewish students that "...Hitler was right..", school kids of colour that they should "...go back to their country..." etc has not tarnished his appeal. When asked if he did say these things he replied, "It's was 50 years ago and if I did say them, it wasn't with malicious intent"!

The British right wing Farage voters are very dim and incapable of critical thinking, so Teflon Farage will persist I think...

 

[Ukigumo]