Winners of the 2020 Miss Hong Kong Pageant: Maisie Kwong Mei-suen, Celina Harto, Lisa Tse Ga-ye and Rosita Kwok Pak-yin Photo: VCG

The final competition of the 2020 Miss Hong Kong Pageant (Miss HK) was broadcast in Hong Kong on Sunday, sparking discussion on social media in the Chinese mainland.

The hashtag "2020 Miss HK Finals" had been viewed more than 280 million times on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo as of Monday afternoon, with more than 20,000 netizens in the Chinese mainland joining in on the debate as to who should win. 

Lisa Tse, 25, was crowned champion of the pageant. Born in Scotland, Tse is of mixed-race heritage. Her father is from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, whereas her mother is Scottish.

The first runner-up was Celina Harto, while Rosita Kwok came in third.

Before the results were announced, many netizens on Sina Weibo began to speculate about who would win, with a majority of netizens supporting Tse.

"No.8 [Tse] is my favorite for her pretty looks and forthright personality, so I bet she will be the champion," one netizen commented on Sina Weibo.

While some netizens said they felt Tse was not tall or slim enough to be crowned as Miss Hong Kong, some netizens expressed an appreciation for her looks.

"We need to allow a variety of body types and appearances to show off their advantages. I think Tse's figure conforms to the healthy beauty that is now advocated and I like how she looks," one viewer of the pageant living in Hong Kong, 26, told the Global Times on Monday.