Hebe Tien's spaghetti-eating post turns politically-charged, Latest Music News - The New Paper
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Hebe Tien's spaghetti-eating post turns politically-charged

It is perplexing how an innocuous post of one's meal can take a political turn on social media.

All because S.H.E member Hebe Tien shared two photos of her eating spaghetti on her Weibo on Tuesday (Aug 2).

It riled Chinese netizens as they were convinced Tien is showing support for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. 

And how is that so? Oh well, they claim it is because Mrs Pelosi is of Italian descent. Spaghetti is also known as Italian noodles in Chinese.

Mrs Pelosi is the highest-ranking US politician to visit the island in 25 years, and Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, views her visit as sending an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp on the self-ruling island.

Tien's post thus reflects that she too is supportive of Taiwan's independence from China, declared angry netizens.

The innocuous post that started it all.PHOTO: HEBE TIEN/WEIBO

Her post, which attracted more than 2 million views, has since been deleted following the public outcry that demanded the singer explain herself. 

Comments from fans included "goddess bye bye", "please don 't come to the mainland in the future, two-faced person" and "to do uch a thing at this time is really very hurtful".

TIen has yet to address the issue.

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