When people visit Beijing, the capital city of China, the first destination is often Tiananmen Square. Taking a photo against the background of Tiananmen Rostrum, for many tourists, ranks the No.1 choice when in the square.

Up along the rostrum hangs the giant portrait of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China.

Pictures like this have never created a controversy until Carina Lau Kar-ling, the Hong Kong actress, took a snapshot in the same backdrop recently. She posted the picture to her Weibo and wrote "48 years...I'm finally here!"

Many have criticized Lau for taking such a picture with Mao in the back. But many others showed support for her.

Apparently, the controversy was created mostly due to Lau's profile as a Hong Kong super star. Along with the picture, she also wrote "The East is red, and the sun is in my heart."

"The East is Red" was a revolutionary song in the 1960s, comparing Mao to the sun as the savior of the Chinese people.

For liberals nowadays, a public figure like Lau showing off a picture with Mao and expressing the love for him is an unforgivable offense to the millions who suffered torture and humiliation during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).

It is unfair to heap criticism upon an actress whose life and work are both far away from politics. Her visit to Tiananmen Square, like thousands of others, should not be politicized.

For many of Lau's supporters, it was only natural that "The East Is Red" came to her mind when she visited Tiananmen Square for the first time in 48 years, as the song was the de facto national anthem during the Cultural Revolution. They argue that anyone who was born in the 1960s would have similar reactions.

Lau was born in 1965 and spent her first 15 years on the mainland until she emigrated to Hong Kong in 1980.

Lau's supporters may be right in rebuking the liberals for trying to deprive her of freedom of speech. But meanwhile, it is not appropriate to equate their feelings for Mao or the nostalgia for their childhood dreams of the 1960s to patriotism. It is even worse to label those who criticize Mao as unpatriotic.

If Lau and her supporters enjoy full freedom to take pictures with Mao behind them and sing revolutionary songs, then others also have the right to criticize what they perceive as inappropriate.

Unfortunately in current China, such debates often fall into personal attacks online.

Today's China is complicated, and there are tons of different opinions on any given topic. The controversy over Lau is just one case in point.

One encouraging sign, however, is that Lau's supporters have strived to paint her critics as repeating Cultural Revolution tactics in their use of violent languages in some extreme cases. The underlying message: no one wants to see the country in chaos again.

Xu Qinduo, a commentator on current affairs with China Radio International