Wang Nan, the former table tennis world champion and her husband Guo Bin. [File Photo]

The husband of a former table tennis world champion has been chided by Chinese netizens for a patriotic, anti-Japanese comment that he posted on social media on Sunday.

Sunday marked the 85th anniversary of the Mukden Incident, or 9/18 Incident, an event that led to Japan's full-scale invasion of northern China.

"I have been to Japan, but I never use any Japanese products myself. When I was in the hotels in Japan, I turned on all the water taps to relieve my anger," Guo Bin, husband of Wang Nan, winner of two Olympic gold medals in table tennis, wrote on his Sina Weibo on Sunday.

"Actually it is useless, but we should get even in all ways," Guo added.

Wang showed her support for her husband's comment by retweeting his post on Sina Weibo.

Guo's post sparked intense debate among netizens, and the hashtag "Wang Nan's husband" had garnered more than 1 million page views on Sina Weibo as of press time.

"It's rude, not something good to promote," Sina Weibo user Weifang Xingzhe Laozhang commented.

"I cannot see the relations between water taps and patriotism," said another netizen using the moniker Duomi Baobao, echoing the sentiments of many who called Guo's actions childish.

However, some netizens expressed solidarity with Guo. "Guo said that he knew it was useless and that we need to keep on. I think it's normal," said Sina Weibo user Kuifu.

An online survey conducted by the Global Times on Monday found more than 62 percent of the 8,156 respondents agreed with the statement, "You can have patriotism, but you cannot behave without a baseline." Meanwhile, 22 percent said they "understand his emotion, but Guo's behavior is not proper," and 8 percent responded that Guo's actions were "exactly what I would do."

"Guo's behavior is wasting resources, which is selfish and narrow-minded. It is not patriotism," Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Hu added that it is important to learn from other countries' successful experience in management and technology, instead of fostering hatred for them.