Hong Kong star cut from TV show over controversial comments

Wong Hei's appearances are blurred in the latest episode of reality show The Infinite Challenge aired Sunday on China Central Television (CCTV).[Photo/Weibo]

A Hong Kong star was edited out of a popular show on China's national television after he shared controversial comments about former Chinese leader Zhou Enlai on Facebook.

Wong Hei's appearances were either cut or blurred in the latest episode of reality show The Infinite Challenge aired Sunday on China Central Television (CCTV).

The Infinite Challenge, adapted from a South Korean TV show, features celebrities taking on the challenge of various jobs.

Wong is known in the mainland for playing a firefighter in the popular Hong Kong TV series Burning Flames.

CCTV removed Wong's appearances in Sunday’s show after he was accused by Huang An, a self-confessed anti-Taiwan independence singer, on the Twitter-like Weibo of "blaspheming against Premier Zhou."

"[Wong Hei] earns money and buys a flat in the mainland, eating and drinking well, then condemns mainland when [he has] returned to Hong Kong and Taiwan. We have to report these kinds of people," wrote Huang.

Huang was referring to a news report Wong shared on Facebook about a controversial book suggesting Zhou was gay.

A producer of The Infinite Challenge said on Weibo that they would not have asked Wong to take part in the program had they known about his comments.

"If recorded, we wouldn’t use; if used, we wouldn’t broadcast," he said.