An employee works next to shoes on display inside the flagship store of sporting-goods giant Nike in Shanghai on March 16, 2017.

Nike halted the sale of a range of sports shoes in China after its Japanese designer showed support for Hong Kong protests in an Instagram post, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The line of limited-edition sports shoes are designed by Undercover, the brand of Japanese designer Jun Takahashi, according to the report. Several Chinese retailers withdrew those shoes from sale without explanation, the FT reported.

Nike confirmed the move to CNBC. A spokesperson for the company said, "Based on feedback from Chinese consumers, we have withdrawn from China a small number of products that were designed by a collaborator."

Earlier this month, Undercover posted on its Instagram account a photo of protesters with the slogan "no extradition to China," according to the report. That post reportedly attracted backlash from Chinese social media users.

Undercover deleted the post, saying that it was an "individual opinion" that was put up by mistake, the newspaper said. The designer didn't immediately reply to CNBC's request for comment.