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China declares itself Olympic winner after altering win count

Published 16:29 15 Aug 2021 BST

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Well, everything looks to be in order and there's absolutely nothing to see here

Tokyo 2020 is now behind us and while it was a fun ride, one country hasn't quite let it go yet. China (or, to be more specific, the People's Republic of China) did pretty darn well in the tournament, finishing second overall but apparently that wasn't enough for them. While if you do a quick search on Google, you can see the country sitting with the silver in terms of their medals tally, over on Chinese state media, the nation is now in first place after claiming the medals from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Don't think it works like that. https://twitter.com/MothershipSG/status/1426134086490353664?s=20 For all intents and purposes, the three regions remain disputed territories that but in China's book they are a recognised part of the republic and communist regime.

Taiwan took 34th place in the Olympics with two gold medals, four silver and six bronze for a total of 12. Just a couple of months ago, John Cena apologised for referring to the region as a country - which it is - after criticism in China who continue to lay claim to the independent state.

Hong Kong, which is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) located within the country, placed 49th in the Olympics with one gold medal, two silvers and a hattrick of bronzes for another total of 12 medals. Adding both of these states to their tally saw China's total jump from 88 to 106, which their four 'extra' golds seeing them go top on weight.

Macau is another autonomous SAR on the south coast of China but, unlike Hong Kong and Taiwan which are recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as Chinese Taipei, the region is not currently recognised as a National Olympic Committee. Nevertheless, in some section of state media, it also being included as part of the PRC.