Finland’s prime minister apologized on Wednesday to China, South Korea and Japan in an effort to quash a growing racism scandal in the country.

芬兰总理周三向中国、韩国和日本致歉，试图平息在该国愈演愈烈的种族歧视丑闻。

Over the past few days, lawmakers in Finland’s most prominent anti-immigration party have posted pictures of themselves pulling back their eyelids, apparently in support of a Finnish beauty queen who was stripped of her crown last week for making a similar gesture.

过去几天，芬兰最具影响力的反移民政党的多名议员接连发布自己扯眼角的照片，显然是在支持一位因做出类似手势而被剥夺桂冠的芬兰选美皇后。

“I sincerely apologize for recent offensive social media posts by individual members of Parliament, which do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in a Chinese-language statement posted on social media on Wednesday by the Finnish Embassy in China.

芬兰驻华大使馆周三在社交媒体发布了总理佩泰里·奥尔波的中文声明，他在声明中表示：“对于近期个别议员在社交媒体上发表的冒犯性言论，我深表诚挚歉意。这些言论与芬兰倡导的平等与包容的价值观背道而驰。”

Finland’s embassies in South Korea and Japan shared similar statements on social media.

芬兰驻韩、驻日大使馆也在社交媒体上发布了类似致歉声明。

The controversy began this month when pictures surfaced on social media of Sarah Dzafce, Finland’s representative to the Miss Universe pageant, pulling her eyelids back at a slant, according to Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest newspaper.

据芬兰最大报纸《赫尔辛基新闻报》报道，这场争议始于本月。当时，芬兰环球小姐参赛代表萨拉·扎夫采在比赛中向后拉扯眼皮形成斜眼的照片在社交媒体流传开来。

Ms. Dzafce apologized in an Instagram statement last week.

扎夫采上周在Instagram上发文致歉。

“One of the most important things for me is respect for people, their backgrounds and differences,” she said, adding, “I take responsibility for my actions and will learn from this.”

她表示：“对我而言，尊重每一个人、尊重不同的背景与差异是至关重要的事。我会为自己的行为负责，并从中吸取教训。”

The Miss Finland Organization then stripped her of her title, saying in a statement that her comment was “offensive, harmful and completely against the values” of the pageant.

随后，芬兰小姐组委会撤销了她的冠军头衔，并在声明中指出，她的这一行为“具有冒犯性和危害性，完全违背了选美赛事的核心价值观”。

前芬兰小姐萨拉·扎夫采上周在赫尔辛基的新闻发布会上。

Ms. Dzafce did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

截至目前，扎夫采尚未回应置评请求。

The loss of her title angered lawmakers in the Finns Party, a populist, anti-immigration party that is part of Mr. Orpo’s governing coalition.

扎夫采被夺头衔一事激怒了正统芬兰人党的议员们。这个民粹主义反移民政党属于奥尔波领导的执政联盟。

Two Finnish members of Parliament, Juho Eerola and Kaisa Garedew, and a Finnish lawmaker in the European Parliament, Sebastian Tynkkynen, posted social media images similar to the ones Ms. Dzafce posted. Ms. Garedew said in her caption that she was giving herself a temple massage; Mr. Eerola and Mr. Tynkkynen posted captions in support of Ms. Dzafce.

芬兰国会的尤霍·埃罗拉、凯萨·加雷杜以及欧洲议会中的芬兰议员塞巴斯蒂安·滕基宁均发布了与扎夫采动作相似的照片。加雷杜称自己只是在做太阳穴按摩；埃罗拉和滕基宁则在配文中表示支持扎夫采。

Mr. Eerola has since apologized. “I am deeply sorry that my photo caused offense to Asian people,” he told The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper.

此后埃罗拉已公开致歉。他向日本《朝日新闻》表示：“我发布的照片冒犯了亚洲民众，对此我深感愧疚。”

Ms. Garedew declined to apologize in an interview with Iltalehti, a Finnish tabloid. Mr. Tynkkynen criticized China in a post on Instagram and said resisting Ms. Dzafce’s “cancellation” was the right choice.

而加雷杜在接受芬兰小报《晚报》采访时拒绝道歉。滕基宁则在Instagram上发文指责中国，还称抵制对扎夫采的“取消行动”才是正确选择。

The three lawmakers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

这三位议员目前均未回应置评请求。

Mr. Orpo has denounced the posts as “childish” and “stupid.” But the controversy is still brewing in Finland. The national broadcaster, Yle, reported that the lawmakers’ party is set to meet on Thursday to discuss it.

奥尔波已公开谴责这些照片既“幼稚”又“愚蠢”，但争议在芬兰境内仍持续发酵。芬兰国家广播公司报道称，涉事议员所属政党将于周四召开会议，就此事展开讨论。