The singer was on the final leg of an Asian tour

Sir Elton, dressed in a royal blue tracksuit and matching sunglasses, made the outburst after being surrounded by photographers at Taipei airport.

"Rude, vile pigs!" he shouted. "Rude, vile pigs. That's what all of you are."

A spokeswoman for the singer said he was angry that police allegedly did not protect him from the press pack.

'Pig! Pig!'

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!"

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

Sir Elton had arrived at Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek airport by private jet to perform a concert at the city's Chung Shan stadium.

He was... besieged by hordes of photographers and live TV crews, intent upon disrupting his progress Spokeswoman for Sir Elton John

During his performance, the British star told his fans that the airport photographers were the rudest people he had ever met during his travels, the Associated Press news agency reported.

He meant every word he had said to them, he added.

The spokeswoman for Sir Elton accused police and airport security officials of failing to protect the star.

"Elton John's arrival at Taipei airport was greeted by what can only be described as chaos and confusion. He was... besieged by hordes of photographers and live TV crews, intent upon disrupting his progress," she said.