Last Updated on: 6th July 2023, 03:32 am
Former WWE Champion, who became actor John Cena on Tuesday, made an apology to fans in China on his official Weibo account after calling Taiwan the ‘Country’ in an interview for his latest film, Fast & Furious 9 ‘F9’ promotion.
“I made a mistake. I have to say now that I love and respect China and the Chinese people very, very, very importantly,” said Cena in Mandarin in the video, without giving any further details.
However, the apology video sparked further anger on Chinese social media, where users denounced Cena for not declaring Taiwan as part of China.
John Cena to China after calling Taiwan a country: I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologise, I apologise, I’m very sorry.
He’s promoting Fast and Furious 9pic.twitter.com/y1NpAkGFVj
— Shubhangi Sharma (@ItsShubhangi) May 25, 2021
“If you don’t say,” Taiwan is part of China “in Chinese, we will not accept your excuses,” wrote an angry Chinese Internet user. While another social media user called Cena “two-sided”. “When he’s in Taiwan Province, he says it’s a country, when he’s in China, he says that he respects the Chinese. He has two faces and I don’t understand why the Chinese are so forgiving of him,” wrote another Weibo user.
Speaking to Taiwanese news broadcaster TVBS on May 8, Cena said, “Taiwan will be the first country to see Fast & Furious 9. This movie is really great – and it’s huge.”
After Cena’s comment got an overwhelming response on the Chinese microblogging website, the wrestler-turned-actor turned around and apologized to his Chinese fans.
Taiwan has a controversial political status
Taiwan, sometimes known as the Republic of China (ROC), is an island separated from mainland China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC) by the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan’s political status is controversial as there is no certainty whether it should be considered part of China or whether it should be its own territory as an autonomous entity. China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
Although Taiwan has been practically independent since 1950, the Chinese government likes to believe that Taiwan is a separatist province that will eventually take over part of China again. And the history goes that China has gone to great lengths to anyone who has tried to cross China’s political borders.
