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South Korean short track speedskater Hwang Dae-heon reacts after winning gold in the men’s 1,500-meter short track event at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)

A heated debate is currently underway in China regarding Hwang Dae-heon, the 23-year-old South Korean speedskater who won gold in the men's 1,500-meter short track event at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Although Chinese state-run media said his win “drew the respect of Chinese netizens,” many online commenters in China have expressed discomfort over Koreans complaints of biased calls by the referee that led Hwang and another South Korean skater to be disqualified from an earlier event.

An article published by the state-run Global Times on Thursday said that Hwang had “[won] respect from Chinese netizens despite Monday's disqualification row.”

“Unlike the controversy following the penalty two days ago, Hwang's champion won respect from Chinese netizens, who said that it showed Hwang's real ability without controversy, which is how the Games should be played,” the article continued.

Regarding the controversy over referee calls during the semifinals for the 1,000-meter race, the article read, “Rather than questioning the penalties, a more urgent mission for short-track speed skating teams, especially those who would like to apply an aggressive strategy such as South Korea, is to adapt to new rules and technologies to play more carefully.”

Such reports by Chinese state-run media seem to indicate that China wants to cool tensions over referee calls.

The Chinese Embassy in Seoul, which had earlier voiced concerns over South Korean politicians “instigating anti-Chinese sentiment” in regard to comments on the Games, also issued a statement congratulating Hwang on winning gold.

However, Chinese netizens voiced discontent over Hwang’s disqualification being met with suspicion.

Speaking to the press after securing the gold, Hwang Dae-heon said, “I thought the 1,000-meter was a clean race, but I prepared to make today’s even cleaner,” adding, “I made it my strategy to skate the cleanest in a clean race.”

But this did little to appease commenters in China, who said he was “using the term ‘clean race’ only if he wins and not when he is disqualified.”

“I wanted to compliment him, but I’m just too angry,” one commenter wrote.

Some Chinese netizens also uploaded videos of Hwang colliding with other athletes in past races. On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, the hashtag “#Hwang Dae-heon called this a clean race” exceeded 100 million views Thursday morning alone.

By Jung In-hwan, Beijing correspondent

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