Action star Jackie Chan’s (成龍) comment that Chinese “need to be controlled” drew sharp criticism from lawmakers in his native Hong Kong and in Taiwan.
Chan said at a business forum in Hainan on Saturday that a free society may not be beneficial for authoritarian China.
“I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not,” Chan said. “I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we’re not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”
Freedom in Hong Kong and Taiwan, he said, had made those societies “chaotic.”
Chan’s comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders, but did not sit well with people in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said Chan “has enjoyed freedom and democracy and has reaped the economic benefits of capitalism. But he has yet to grasp the true meaning of freedom and democracy.”
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said Chan should not have made the comment because freedom and human rights are core values in a democracy and most Taiwanese appreciate these values, which are still missing or not appreciated in China.
“Chan should learn more from the real Taiwan,” he said.
Freddy Lim (林昶佐), the frontman of the heavy metal band Chthonic (閃靈樂團) and known for his pro-independence stance, told the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that Chan did not value freedom and did not know what it is.
Killing people, like China has done in Tibet, could stop chaos, he said. But whether the public — and Chan — desire that is doubtful.
Wu Chin-fa (吳錦發), former vice chairman of the Council for Cultural Affairs, said Chan should not have made the comments because he is, after all, just an entertainer.
Pro-democracy Hong Kong Legislator Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄) said Chan had “insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren’t pets,” he was quoted by The Associated Press as saying. “Chinese society needs a democratic system to protect human rights and rule of law.”
Hong Kong Legislator Albert Ho (何俊仁) called the comments “racist,” adding: “People around the world are running their own countries … Why couldn’t Chinese do the same?”
As a former British colony, Hong Kong enjoys Western-style civil liberties and some democratic elections under Chinese rule.
Half of its 60-member legislature is elected, with the other half picked by special interest groups. But Hong Kong’s leader is chosen by a panel stacked with Beijing loyalists.
While Chan’s comments were reported by Hong Kong and Taiwanese news outlets, they were ignored by Chinese media.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
RSS