Photo: Screenshot of Douyin video

American-Japanese model and actress Kiko Mizuhara's apparent post criticizing the election of the world's most beautiful faces, triggered heated discussion on Chinese social media on Thursday with many netizens echoing Kiko's point that a person's value should not hinge on his or her appearance. 

Unlike previous years, when the hunt for the most beautiful face caught the attention of legions of fans, and were viewed as an honor by pop icons, many Chinese netizens said this year the faces of medical staff who fought the COVID-19 pandemic and those of soldiers who guard the country's borders should be considered the most appealing. 

A post on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo shows a screenshot of an apparent Kiko post suggesting the TC Candler's 100 Most Beautiful Faces 2020 contest, which is based solely on appearances, is rude. 

"Surprisingly, such an election still exists in 2020…every individual has different standards for beauty, this [election] is really strange," read Kiko's apparent post. 

Photo: Screenshot of Douyin video

A Global Times reporter did not find the post on Kiko's official Instagram account, suggesting it may have been deleted or fakes. Even so, it still triggered heated discussion over the definition of beauty among Chinese netizens.  

The 100 Most Beautiful Faces List has been published annually by US-based film critic website TC Candler since 1990, according to TC Candler website. 

The nomination process for 2020 began on TC Candler social media accounts on April 11. 

Most of the candidates are film idols or members of pop group, such as the South Korean girl group members Lisa and Chinese actor Xiao Zhan, according to Shi Wenxue, a Beijing-based film critic. 

Chinese fans and netizens used to offer a lot of opinions on who should be nominated. Shi told the Global Times on Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic makes the list meaningless and irrelevant. Many netizens echoed Kiko's comments. 

"Ranking people based on their appearances is an unhealthy guidance to the public and indicates a degradation of aesthetics," Shi said. 

"A person's face should not be the most important standard of beauty. A person is beautiful as long as his or her soul is beautiful," a user of China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo commented.

Photo: People's Daily weibo account

Some netizens noted that this year's real beautiful faces that can send positive energy to the society  are those with grooves across their cheeks made by the elastic of a face mask worn for hours by medical workers who had fought on the frontier of the pandemic. 

Others noted the sunburned faces of border soldiers are the most beautiful and the young soldiers are the most lovable people.    

A post on Wednesday on WeChat introduced the difficult life of Chinese border soldiers in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. 

Many netizens said, "They are the most lovable people." 

"Without these people who protect us from dangers, we would not be able to enjoy the current peaceful and happy life chasing pop icons," a Beijing resident surnamed Liu told the Global Times.

Photo: People's Daily weibo account