Recent visit to Tawan leaves Sir Elton John enraged

&to=http://english.pravda.ru/culture/2002/07/04/31778.html' target=_blank>British rock star Elton John ended his whirlwind tour of Taiwan unrepentant about calling the local media "rude, vile pigs."

John had been caught unprepared at Taipei airport on Thursday, when he emerged from a lift before passing immigration only to be greeted by a solid wall of flashing cameras.

Many countries do not allow media into restricted areas, but Taiwan reporters, notorious for aggressively chasing celebrities, can obtain special passes for the Taipei airport.

"The television and photographers at the airport were the rudest people that I've ever met and I've been to 60 countries," John, 57, told fans at a concert on Friday.

"You know it. They are a disgrace to your country. They shouldn't be allowed access to people just getting off planes like that," he said, sitting behind a piano in a bright purple shirt, dark blazer and his trademark matching sunglasses, informs the Reuters.

According to the Herald Sun, the singer shouted expletives and called them "vile pigs." But at a concert later, he apologised for the airport flareup. "It's great to be here. As you know, we had a little incident at the airport," he said, drawing laughter from fans.

Earlier a television station has shown footage of the pop star berating the photographers and TV crews as he cleared immigration.

The fuming performer was also shown clenching his teeth and muttering expletives as he stood with his arms crossed tightly across his chest.

John isn't the first foreign star to experience an immediate case of culture shock after encountering aggressive Taiwanese photographers at Taipei's airport.