KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — Singer Hebe Tien has been accused of being a supporter of the Taiwanese independence movement and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she posted photos of herself eating pasta.

The 39-year-old, who is one third of Taiwanese girl group S.H.E., had posted the picture on her Instagram Stories on August 2, which coincided with Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

Following brick bats from Chinese social media users, the photo was removed, Mothership reported.

According to the portal, social media users had linked the pasta to Pelosi, who is of Italian descent, and Tien's political stand.

After the picture was deleted, Chinese social media users turned to Tien's Weibo account to vent their frustrations.

They asked her to "explain herself”, and there was one who said they have "wasted their years liking her”.

The hashtag "Hebe is pro-Taiwanese independence” was also trending on Weibo.