Former Miss Finland Sarah Dzafce apologizes to China on December 11, 2025 due to her racist gesture. Photo: screenshot of Xinhua International Headlines

Miss Finland has apologized to China and Asian community as she was stripped of her title three months after winning it, following criticism over her sharing a racially charged social media post in late November that showed her making a "slanted eye gesture," multiple media including Helsinki Times reported.

Sarah Dzafce, in a photo posted on social media in late November, posed with her fingers stretching her eyes into a slanted shape - a manner widely interpreted as mocking East Asian features - alongside caption that reads: "kiinalaisenkaa syömäs," which translates to "eating with a Chinese," per media reports from news.com.au.  

Photo: screenshot of Sarah Dzafce's post

According to Helsinki Times, the image was initially shared by Dzafce's friend, not Dzafce herself, on a private group. Dzafce claimed the gesture as a reaction to a headache and pressure in her eyes during a dinner. 

She claimed the friend added the caption without her input. 

She later apologized on Instagram in Finnish, writing"I want to apologize especially to those personally affected by this situation. I will learn from it and grow," she wrote.

The former Miss Finland claimed in the post that one of her most important values is "respect for people and their backgrounds, and differences."

But netizens did not buy in her apology. Under her Instagram post, netizens wrote "Very disappointing" "Very interesting PR answer, didn't even try to seem believable by having your team write it in English"  and "It's 2025, I thought Finland has better education, seriously?"  Some urged her to give back the title of Miss Finland. 

On Thursday, organizers of the beauty pageant confirmed the revoke of her title and announced that they accepted no form of racism or discriminatory behavior and apologized for the incident in a statement, reported South China Morning Post. 

Dzafce said at the press briefing, in Finnish on Thursday that she apologized for those insulted or harmed by her, particularly the Asian community. According to video clips released by Xinhua International Headlines, she said "Sorry, China" (duibuqi zhongguo) in Chinese and "I am very sorry" in English. 

The Miss Suomi organization's CEO Sunneva Sjögren confirmed that the title removal followed days of internal discussions. Earlier in the week, the organization had stated there were no plans to revoke the crown, according to Helsinki Times. 

The Miss Finland title was transferred to Tara Lehtonen, who finished in second place in the competition. However, the incident did not appease with the title transfer. 

Finns Party Members of Parliament Juho Eerola and Kaisa Garedew along with MEP (Member of European Parliament) Sebastian Tynkkynen have published pictures showing themselves stretching their eyes in the same way as Sarah Dzafce, according to Yle.com, or Finnish Broadcasting Company. 

Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz, chair of the Swedish People's Party (SPP) of Finland, criticized their move as "irresponsible, childish and stupid. It's obvious that it offends people."   

There has also been criticism of the lawmakers' posts from within Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's National Coalition Party (NCP), Yle.com reported on Friday. Pia Kauma, deputy chair of the NCP parliamentary group said "If an MP behaves in a way that can lead to conclusions about racism, it can easily spread elsewhere. This needs to be stopped right at the start."  

According to Kauma, the matter will "most likely" be discussed at a meeting of the governing parties' parliamentary group leaders on Tuesday.

Global Times