Vogue’s April issue features on its cover 14 female celebrities from around the world, including US actor Scarlett Johansson, French actor Léa Seydoux, Bae Doona from South Korea, and Chinese pop star Angelababy, or Yang Ying in Chinese.

With the headline “a celebration of global talents”, Vogue published two editions of the issue, which has sparked online debate at home and abroad.

In the West critics are taking the magazine to task for placing white women in central positions on the two covers.

On the main cover, Scarlett Johansson is surrounded by Doona Bae and Indian film star Deepika Padukone.

In the alternative cover shoot, Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki and Léa Seydoux take prominent positions, with Nigerian star Adesua Etomi-Wellington and Angelababy on the periphery.

A number of netizens have slammed the magazine for preaching, but not practicing, inclusivity, while others have said the placement was not racial in character.

In China meanwhile debate has focused on whether Angelababy is deserving of a Vogue cover.

Vogue, launched in 1982 in the US, is considered the fashion industry's bible. Becoming a cover model for the magazine is tough work, even for the biggest stars.

The same goes for Vogue China, which typically chooses supermodels and top actresses rather than rising stars for its cover.

Several Chinese actresses born around 1985 are considered successors to China's "Big Four", Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, Zhao Wei and Xu Jinglei.

These four female stars enjoyed remarkable careers and are widely known among Chinese audiences.

Angelababy, Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, and Ni Ni, considered potential successors to the Big Four, have been mocked by netizens for their supposedly poor acting skills.

While the four actresses are popular across China, they have not been recognized by influential film awards and festivals. That Angelababy has become the first American Vogue cover star from China has shocked many.

Some netizens say she is not a suitable actor to represent China, because compared with the others on the cover Angelababy has not achieved much in the film industry.

"She is beautiful, and indeed has an angle-like face, but she is not able to be on the cover of Vogue as an actress," one netizen says.

"I think she is a symbol of online celebrity, not an actress. China has so many excellent actresses in the industry – why she is the lucky one to be the cover lady?" another netizen asks.

Dubbed the “Chinese Kim Kardashian” by American Vogue, Angelababy boasts more than 100 million followers on China’s Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo. Her behavior is often the subject of online debate.

While appearing on variety show Keep Running she allegedly got "special treatment" from other contestants because she was on her period. She was criticized online, and the BBC even published an article titled "Actress gets China talking about periods" on the incident.,

In 2015 she played the lead role in period drama General and I. Despite the drama's popularity, she was labeled a koutu, for her allegedly poor work ethic.

The term koutu refers to actors who shoot primarily in front of green screens rather than real-life settings. This cuts down on the amount of time actors have to spend on set.

Due to a number of negative news stories, it's possible that people's tolerance of Angelababy is declining.

Gracing the cover of American Vogue is something to be proud of, but it seems Angelababy faces an uphill battle to gain respect as an actor.