Wee Meng Chee Photo: CFP

Malaysian singer and songwriter, Namewee, and Australian singer Kimberley Chen, have been removed from China's social and streaming platforms as of Sunday after they released a song which is considered to have insulted the Chinese people.

The song named "Fragile", or literally "Heart of Glass," released on Friday is considered to contain insults against the Chinese people under the surface of a romantic love song. 

In the music video of "Fragile," a panda figure keeps dancing in the background and the whole set is pink-colored. These are symbols considered to be related to China and targeted at the "Little Pink," a term used by the media to refer to young people who are fired up with patriotic zeal and try to guard China against any criticism online. At the beginning of the video, a caption reads, "Please be cautious if you are fragile pink."

Many other offensive elements are found in the lyrics and the video. The singers mention the Chinese people's love for "dog, cats, bats and civets" as the clip shows the panda cooking a pot of bat soup. The singers also referred to "forced labor and detention camps in Xinjiang," something that has been repeatedly refuted by local citizens. 

The malicious song was released to the displeasure of Chinese netizens and soon led to the delisting of the two artists. 

Wee Meng Chee, better known by his stage name Namewee, is a Malaysian Chinese singer and songwriter. In August, Namewee's account on China's Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo was banned after he made sarcastic comments about the Communist Party of China (CPC). He has since registered a new Sina Weibo account which was banned after posting the new song.

Kimberly Chen, an Australian Chinese, once participated in a talent show produced by a company from the Chinese mainland. After being exposed as having supported secessionist activities, her fan group in the Chinese mainland announced its disbandment. Chen's Weibo account was also blocked after the release of "Fragile."

The two artists' music has also been taken down from several Chinese music streaming platforms.

Although Namewee's management company has since responded that the song "just wants to express love for small animals," netizens reject this because of the sophistication of the messages. On Sina Weibo, many netizens condemned the behavior of the two singers and noted this kind of artists are not welcome in China.