Print
Email
Share
HONG KONG - Taiwanese democracy groups have called for a boycott of Jackie Chan’s new movie after the Hollywood star questioned whether Chinese people “need to be controlled” and criticized Hong Kong and Taiwan as being too chaotic.
Taiwanese Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lee Kun-cheng Tuesday called upon the island’s residents to boycott Chan’s new film “Shinjuku Incident,” which opened there last weekend.
The Hong Kong-born actor questioned the role of democracy and whether political freedoms led to social disorder while speaking at a weekend forum held on Hainan Island.
“I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not,” Chan was cited as saying to an audience Saturday at a creative industries event at the Boao Forum. “If you’re too free, you’re like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic.” He continued: “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.”
Chan’s comments also came under fire in Hong Kong.
“He has insulted us with his remarks that suggest that we have too much freedom,” according to an editorial published in the South China Morning Post Wednesday. “He has outraged Chinese the world over by implying that China people need to be kept in check for their own good.”
The Hong Kong Tourism Board has received more than a hundred complaints against Chan’s ambassador role for the organization. Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1954, after his parents fled mainland China during the civil war.
The state-run China Daily cited a Chan spokesman as saying the actor’s comments were taken out of context.
Chan will hold a press conference after performing at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing as part of the May Day holiday celebrations, the China Daily reported, citing the spokesman.
