Taiwanese star Rainie Yang, 39, has incurred the wrath of the Henan netizens after joking that those from the Chinese province have a reputation for lying.

It all started at her Zhengzhou concert on Saturday (Dec 9) when a couple was caught kissing on camera while Rainie was performing.

Their PDA caused the audience to scream in excitement, and after finishing her song, the curious singer asked about the commotion and where the couple was sitting.

"How is it that only you see it? It's not like everyone was waving or kissing, right? Can you calm down and let me know who was kissing?" she asked.

In fact, she so wanted to know that she threatened not to continue with the concert if fans didn’t point the couple out to her.

The audience continued to tease Rainie by waving their glow sticks, prompting her to joke, "Henan people can’t be like this. You already have a reputation, you know. [You all] like to lie to people, don't lie to me. You people from Zhengzhou are so bad, keep lying to me."

Well, some fans didn't think it was funny and the quip was posted online. 

Some netizens were so offended by it that they slammed Rainie on socials and even filed complaints with local authorities about the star.

Rainie apologised for her “impolite and disrespectful” joke on Weibo the next day, but this did little to appease netizens.

Local media reported that Henan’s Culture and Tourism Department had received numerous complaints about the matter.

It noted that artists require approval from relevant authorities to hold concerts in the city and that the mayor’s office is currently looking into the complaints.

Some fans also came forward to console Rainie, telling her that not to take the matter to heart.

"We all know that you were just joking and it was maliciously interpreted by some people," said one fan. 

Photos: Rainie Yang/Weibo