KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Hong Kong television station TVB has come under fire from its viewers for screening a programme deemed to promote the eating of bats.

According to Hong Kong daily Ming Pao, the station had aired the travel programme Never Ends on June 10 that showed host Marco Liao promoting Palau, an archipelago of over 500 islands, which is part of the Micronesia region in the western Pacific Ocean.

After the programme was aired, viewers expressed their disgust over the show as there were scenes showing Liao with bats, and describing bat meat was like chicken meat and tasted like duck meat.

Bats have repeatedly been pinpointed as the source of origin of Covid-19.

Responding to a query from Ming Pao, the station said the programme was shot in 2018 by a Taiwanese production house.

It said the travel show was meant to introduce the world's cultures, food and information on leisure activities, with the Palau episode introducing local delicacies that included fruits and bat soup.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Apple Daily quoted the programme producer Asia Travel Channel as saying that TVB failed to take into account the current situation when airing the show, which led to the strong response from its viewers.

It requested that media from other countries stop broadcasting the programme.