China social media users were in an uproar Tuesday over viral footage of a passenger dragged off an overbooked United Airlines flight, after some reports suggested he was of Chinese origin.
The videos taken on the plane and posted to Twitter showed the man, reportedly identified by another passenger as ethnically Chinese, being forcibly pulled screaming from his seat by three security personnel.

āHe said, more or less, āIām being selected because Iām Chinese,āā fellow passenger Tyler Bridges was quoted as saying by The Washington Post. The manās ethnicity and identity were however not officially confirmed.
Twitter ā along with other Western websites such as Facebook and Google ā is blocked on the mainland by the countryās ruling Communist Party, which fears the unregulated spread of information it deems politically sensitive.
But footage of the Sunday showdown on the flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky was reposted to Chinaās Twitter-like Sina Weibo, where the subject quickly became the top trending topic, garnering over 120 million views and 80,000 comments.
Many of them were highly nationalistic in tone as they decried perceived racism.
@United overbook #flight3411 and decided to force random passengers off the plane. Here’s how they did it: pic.twitter.com/QfefM8X2cW
ā Jayse D. Anspach (@JayseDavid) April 10, 2017
āShameless! We wonāt forgive them. Ethnic Chinese around the world please boycott United Airlines!ā wrote one commentator.
āThere is a long history of discrimination against Asians. I hope Chinese people realise this reality and support domestic products,ā another user said. āDonāt feed those who look down on us!ā
It is a common sentiment among many mainlanders to view ethnic Chinese living abroad ā even those with no ties to China ā as compatriots.
United Airlines claims itself to be the biggest carrier to China, with more nonstop US-China flights and to more Chinese cities than any other airline, according to their website.
The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment, but its CEO Oscar Munoz apologised for āhaving to re-accommodateā customers and said the manhandled passenger was being contacted directly to resolve the situation.
āAsian American or not, as a consumer who paid for his ticket, he was treated like a prisoner,ā one Weibo commenter said. āThings are better here at home.ā