SINGAPORE - More than 100 celebrities from China have expressed their support for the "one China" policy after United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on Tuesday (Aug 2) night.
China regards the island as a breakaway province which must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
However, several overseas celebrities, including Singapore singers JJ Lin and Stefanie Sun, found themselves entangled in the saga after a netizen from China accused them of not stating their stance.
China's CCTV News posted a picture with the words "There is only one China in the world" on its official Weibo account on Tuesday night.
More than 100 celebrities from China then commented under the post, using the hashtag #ThereIsOnlyOneChina, and shared CCTV News' post on their Weibo accounts.
Hong Kong and Taiwanese celebrities who have focused their careers in China have also expressed their support, including Hong Kong actress Charmaine Sheh, Hong Kong singer William Chan, Taiwanese actor Talu Wang and Taiwanese singer Rainie Yang.
A blogger from China on Wednesday then compiled a list of overseas celebrities who have not done so and posted it on Weibo.
Among them were three Singaporeans - Lin, Sun and action star Jet Li, who is born in China.
Three Malaysians were also on the list - singers Fish Leong and Michael Wong as well as actress Michelle Yeoh.
The blogger claimed that celebrities who make money in China have to state their stance.
However, several netizens did not agree with the blogger, saying that there is no need for Lin, Sun and Leong to do so since they are not Chinese citizens.
The netizen also fingered more than 30 Taiwanese artistes on the list, including singers Cyndi Wang, Jay Chou and Jolin Tsai, actresses Ruby Lin, Joe Chen and Amber Kuo as well as actors Jerry Yan and Roy Chiu.
Some like Wang, Chen, Kuo and Yan have since expressed support for the "one China" policy on Weibo.
Meanwhile, other celebrities also found their social media posts under scrutiny because of the saga.
S.H.E singer Hebe Tien had to delete two pictures of her eating spaghetti on Instagram after she was accused of supporting Mrs Pelosi, who is of Italian heritage.
