Finnish embassies in China, Japan, S.Korea issue Finnish PM's apology over racism scandal
Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo briefs the media at the Eastern Flank Summit at the House of the Estates in Helsinki, Finland, on December 16, 2025. Photo: VCG
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo issued a formal apology on Wednesday over a racism scandal involving Miss Finland and later a few members of parliament. "I express my sincere apologies for the offensive remarks recently made by individual members of parliament on social media," Orpo said in a Chinese-language statement posted on the Finnish Embassy in China's Weibo account, saying the comments run counter to Finland's values of equality and inclusion.
According to Finnish public broadcaster Yleisradio Oy (Yle), Orpo's apology was published on the social media channels of Finnish embassies in China, Japan and South Korea, with slightly different wordings.
Finnish Embassy in China on December 17, 2025 posted on Weibo a statement from Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo where he apologied over a racism scandal involving Miss Finland and later a few members of parliament. Photo: Embassy of Finland in China
In the statement, Orpo stressed that racism and discrimination have no place in Finnish society, saying the Finnish government takes racism seriously and is committed to addressing the issue. He added that leaders of parliamentary groups from governing parties had discussed the behavior of the lawmakers involved and jointly condemned the insulting and inappropriate actions.
The latest apology came amid a widening racism scandal that first erupted after Miss Finland was stripped of her title and later expanded to involve several members of parliament, triggering domestic and international backlash and reportedly affecting Finland's flag carrier Finnair.
Orpo said earlier on Tuesday that a racism scandal that saw the country's Miss Finland being stripped of her crown and several politicians posting derogatory images was "damaging his country's image," AFP reported on Wednesday.
"Yesterday, during a debate in parliament, I said that this has caused damage to our country. That is certainly the case," Orpo told reporters on Tuesday at the sidelines of a summit gathering leaders of European countries. "Personally, I do not accept racism in any form," he said, according to the AFP report.
Miss Finland has apologized to China and Asian community on December 11. 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.
According to video clips released by Xinhua International Headlines, Dzafce said "Sorry, China" (duibuqi zhongguo) in Chinese and "I am very sorry" in English.
Former Miss Finland Sarah Dzafce apologizes to China on December 11, 2025 due to her racist gesture. Photo: screenshot of Xinhua International Headlines
Following the gesture scandal, two MPs, Kaisa Garedew and Juho Eerola, and EMP Sebastian Tynkkynen from the right-wing populist Finns Party - one of the ruling parties in Finland's coalition government - later posted images of themselves on social media doing the same gesture, saying it was in support of Dzafce and criticizing the organisation for stripping her of her title, according to media reports. Eerola later apologized for posting his image, according to AFP.
Finns Party MP Juho Eerola posts image of himself on social media doing the same "slanted eye gesture" as Miss Finland did. Eerola later apologized for posting the image. Photo from Eerola's Facebook page
On Tuesday, Finnish government's parliamentary group chairpersons jointly condemned the posts made by their colleagues.
"This should not have happened. Not now and not in the future," Jukka Kopra, the National Coalition Party's parliamentary group chairman told reporters, per the AFP report, calling the posts "derogatory" and "inappropriate" and undermining Finland's reputation.
It remains unclear whether the MPs will face any sanctions for their behavior, as that will be decided by the Finns Party's parliamentary group only later this week, the report said.
Orpo said he trusted that the parliamentary group "will deal with this matter with the appropriate seriousness."
Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told Global Times on Wednesday that the incident reflects the persistence of racial prejudice rooted in historical and cultural factors among a small number of Europeans, which can resurface under certain conditions.
Cui noted that the issue, if mishandled by the Finnish government, would not only harm Finland's national image but also seriously undermine Finland's relations with China and the wider Asian community, particularly people to people and cultural exchanges, while also exacerbating internal social tensions.
"Aware of the seriousness of this matter, it has prompted action by Finland's political mainstream," the expert said, "Meanwhile, more broadly among other European countries, they all need to remain vigilant and keep distance from such negative trends shaped by historical and cultural prejudices."
According to the BBC News on Wednesday, the related posts have also drawn backlash in other countries, including Japan, South Korea and even against Finland's flag carrier, Finnair.
Finland's flag carrier Finnair told public broadcaster Yle that the controversy had affected the company, and that there had been calls for tourists to boycott Finland, per the BBC report.
"The statements or posts mentioned by some Finnish members of parliament do not represent the values of Finnair," the airline wrote on its X account on Tuesday, "As an airline supported by employees from diverse backgrounds and customers around the world, we promise to welcome everyone with respect," it wrote, per the BBC report.
Finland should also take this incident as an opportunity to promote social reflection, helping the public recognize the real consequences that racial discrimination and xenophobic thinking have brought to the country, and to foster a clearer and more well-defined social consensus, Cui said.
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