Chinese social media has exploded with outrage after a video went viral showing a passenger who appeared to be of Asian ethnicity being dragged off an overbooked United Airlines flight with a bloodied nose.

The topic, #UnitedAirlinesforcespassengeroffplane, has held strong as a top trending topic over the last two days on Weibo, China's answer to Twitter.

"The boycott starts with me," posted one online user, BJ Shizilu, along with a photo of his shredded Mileage Plus card. Another said, "Whether the passenger is Asian or not, this is abominable," according to a post by Koukou Liang.

Another Weibo user said, "No need to apologize or explain...please sue United Airlines till it collapses. Boycott fully."

In a post on his verified Weibo account that generated some 50,000 likes in over three hours, Chinese American comedian Joe Wong said the passenger who reportedly said he was selected for being Chinese deserves a "thumbs up" as many Chinese who feel discriminated against don't say it out loud so as not to lose face.