The actor told a forum on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, whose attendees included Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, he was not sure “freedom” was necessary.
Chan, 55, whose latest movie, Shinjuku incident, was banned in China, was asked about censorship and restriction on the mainland. He expanded his comments to discuss Chinese society in general.
“I’m not sure if it is good to have freedom or not,” he said. “I’m really confused now. If you are too free, you are like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic.”
He added: “I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we are not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”
His comments were applauded by the Chinese audience, but triggered fury in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Telegraph: Jackie Chan says Chinese people need to be ‘controlled’
Update: Chan’s comments may have been intentionally or unintentionally mistranslated.
April 23, 2009 at 10:41 pm
This is the crux of it for me:
“I’m not sure if it is good to have freedom or not,” he said. “I’m really confused now. If you are too free, you are like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic.”
April 23, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Seems like this quote of Chan’s has been slightly misinterpreted.
http://cnreviews.com/life/news-issues/jackie-chan-chinese-control_20090420.html
“Context is important, and with the context we have available, the current popular spin of Chan’s comments throughout the Western media suggesting him as supporting the control, repression, or oppression of the Chinese people is questionable at best and shamelessly distorted at worst. The subsequent outrage is understandable, but also silly. You can liken Chan’s comments to the same ignorant comments made by many other audacious celebrities and thus dismiss them, or you can do a better job of not translating his Chinese comments in the most politically inflammatory way possible.”
April 23, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Thanks Sydney, I’ve posted this response.