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This Week in AsiaLifestyle & Culture

Chinese tourist’s World Cup flag blunder in Malaysia goes viral

The visitor demanded a hotel fly China’s flag, unaware the display only featured nations that had actually qualified for the tournament

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A still from a social media video showing a Chinese tourist interrogating a hotel worker in Kuala Lumpur about the absence of China’s national flag from a World Cup display. Photo: Threads
SCMP’s Asia desk
A video showing a Chinese tourist berating hotel staff in Malaysia for not flying China’s flag has gone viral after viewers pointed out the flags belonged to the nations competing in the Fifa World Cup finals.

The man, who was reportedly in Kuala Lumpur on business, confronted a staff member at his hotel’s breakfast restaurant after noticing flags from dozens of countries but not China’s.

A still from the social media video shows a Chinese tourist at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur irate about the absence of China’s national flag. Photo: Threads
A still from the social media video shows a Chinese tourist at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur irate about the absence of China’s national flag. Photo: Threads

In the clip, he can be seen interrogating a visibly confused worker for an explanation before telling her: “If you want to earn money from Chinese people, please fly the national flag of China.”

The video gained widespread traction after it was shared on Monday, prompting commenters to point out that the flags represented the 48 teams that had qualified for the World Cup finals – a tournament China has not reached since 2002, when it was eliminated in the group stage without registering a win.

Reaction online was sharply divided. Some criticised the tourist’s tone and sense of entitlement, framing the episode as emblematic of Chinese travellers abroad.

“This kind of behaviour, treating every country like it owes China special treatment, is a big reason Chinese tourists often face resentment abroad,” wrote one user who reshared the clip.

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