Patriotic Hong Kong residents pose for photos with the Chinese national flag at Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor on early Sunday morning. The banner reads "Opposing foreign forces' interference in Hong Kong affair! Traitors get out of China!"Photo: Chen Qingqing/GT

Chinese mainland internet users launched a boycott of actors and singers who showed support for secessionist forces in Hong Kong amid the recent riots in the city.

The protests in Hong Kong since June have drawn many public figures into the spotlight. Netizens launched a campaign to "boycott artists who support Hong Kong secession" on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. The topic has attracted nearly 5 million views and thousands of comments as of press time. 

Net users called for "resolutely resisting artists and their behind-the-scene companies who support secessionist forces." 

The boycott expanded on Thursday after Hong Kong actor Wong He publicly challenged the police over the arrest of Fong Chung-yin, a student leader of Hong Kong Baptist University, for possessing offensive weapons - laser guns that have been used by many protesters since June and have reportedly harmed several police officers.

Fong was arrested in Sham Shui Po as police found he took 10 laser guns with him. Fong insisted that the lasers guns were laser flashlights to observe stars. 

Wong posted on his Facebook on Tuesday, claiming that "if the star-gazing pen is an offensive weapon, you [police] should have arrested the dealers who sell them.

Chinese mainland internet users slammed Wong for supporting "Hong Kong secession" and turning a blind eye to the truth. 

Other artists, including singer Ho Wan-see, Chau Pakho and actor Daniel Wu Yan-zu, are also suspected of supporting the ongoing riots or have liked related posts on social media. 

"Film companies and television platforms will probably not work with them anymore as they have broken the bottom line of the national territory," Shi Wenxue, a Beijing-based film critics told the Global Times on Thursday. 

An anonymous internet show producer from Tencent echoed with Shi in an interview with the Global Times, saying that they will be more cautious in employing Hong Kong artists and those from Taiwan in a new program.

Aside from the boycott, netizens are also showing support to Hong Kong artists who support the police or joined an online activity with the theme "The Five-Star Red Flag Has 1.4 Billion Color Guards" after rioters removed and threw the Chinese national flag into the harbor at the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier last weekend.