Elton John has described photographers in Taiwan as "rude, vile pigs". He arrived in the country to play the last date in his tour of the Far East.

But after touching down at Taipei's Chiang Kai-Shek airport by private jet in the early hours of September 23, 2004, he was besieged by photographers and TV crews.

A Taiwanese news channel showed Sir Elton, dressed in a royal blue tracksuit and matching sunglasses, clenching his teeth and muttering expletives as he stood with his arms crossed tightly across his chest.

"Rude, vile pigs!" he shouted. "Do you know what that means? Rude, vile pigs. That's what all of you are."

One of the photographers shouted back: "Why don't you get out of Taiwan?" Sir Elton replied: "We'd love to get out of Taiwan if it's full of people like you. Pig! Pig!"

Elton, who recently performed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, said: "We had a great tour of the Far East and then we come to Taiwan."

It is not the first time the 57-year-old singer has lost his temper in public.

A spokeswoman for Elton accused police and airport security officials of failing to protect the star but said he was "bravely" carrying on with his concert at the Chung Shan soccer stadium.

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