Several overseas Chinese-language media including Taiwan's Apple Daily , China Times , Hong Kong's Oriental Daily , Yahoo Hong Kong, ifeng.com , and China's Sohu.com , today reported the red shirts rally as "anti-Chinese demonstrations".

"Anti-Chinese demonstrations burst again in Malaysia. More than 30,000 ethnic Malays go on streets to back Prime Minister Najib (Abdul Razak), who is now caught in a financial scandal, alleging the Chinese are aiming to topple the government.

"Many protesters attempted to break into Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown, but were dispersed by the police's water cannons," Apple Daily reported.

"Many government officials and the ruling party's leaders also joined the rally.

"Protesters called upon Malays to be united, and condemned ethnic Chinese party leaders who had initiated a large anti-Najib rally last month, which (the protesters claimed) was aimed at abolishing the special rights of Malays," the newspaper added.

China Times reported that ethnic tension has a long history in Malaysia, as anti-Chinese riots had taken place in 1964 and 1969, with the 1964 riots leading to Singapore leaving Malaysia for independence.

Yahoo Hong Kong quoted from AFP, reporting a 23-year-old protester saying: "The Malay lifestyle is being threatened now. We want to support Najib, a Malay, to warn the Chinese."

The news portal added this protester was brought from rural areas by Umno to join the rally.

Yesterday's red shirt rally saw about 40,000 people shouting slogans of Malay supremacy in Kuala Lumpur, some even caused trouble at Petaling Street.

The protesters flooded the streets with racist posters and banners, with messages like “teach DAP Chinese a lesson”.

Some held posters saying “hapuskan SJKC” (close down Chinese schools), claiming that Malaysia belongs to the Malays. One protester even chased away an ethnic Chinese reporter, calling her "Cina Babi" (Chinese pig).

After the rally, many MCA leaders condemned the "hapuskan SJKC" poster, but kept mum on more racist slogans that surfaced in the rally, such as "Cina Babi".