Taken from the AP story
HONG KONG - Action star Jackie Chan 's comments wondering whether Chinese people "need to be controlled" have drawn sharp rebuke in his native Hong Kong and in Taiwan .
Chan told a business forum in the southern Chinese province of Hainan that a free society may not be beneficial for China 's authoritarian mainland.
"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not," Chan said Saturday. "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."
He went on to say that freedoms in Hong Kong and Taiwan made those societies "chaotic."
Chan's comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders, but did not sit well with lawmakers in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
"He's insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren't pets," Hong Kong pro-democracy legislator Leung Kwok-hung told The Associated Press. "Chinese society needs a democratic system to protect human rights and rule of law."
Another lawmaker, Albert Ho, called the comments "racist," adding: "People around the world are running their own countries. Why can't Chinese do the same?"
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.
In democratically self-ruled Taiwan, which split from mainland China during a civil war in 1949, legislator Huang Wei-che said Chan himself "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."
Chan's comments were reported by news outlets in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but were ignored by the mainland Chinese press.
Although Chan was a fierce critic of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 1989, which killed at least hundreds, he has not publicly criticized China's government in recent years and is immensely popular on the mainland.
He performed during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and took part in the Olympic torch relay .
Chan also is vice chairman of the China Film Association, a key industry group.
3 comments:
I guess it really depends on your perspective.
As a native Tianjin resident, I feel that the Party's propaganda is really annoying, but freedom does come with a price.
Look at the history of Tianjin, from late Qing Dynasty, The Republic, foreign occupation, boxer rebellion, war among warlords, and cultural revolution. Ideology causes so many political upheavals in the city's history.
Last 30 years' tight political control and economical reform did help the people get better life.
Every time I go back to Tianjin, it changes so much. I am quite confident that one day it will change politically too. Allow people more freedom.
管一管与"to be controlled"意思并不一样。
中国人到底需不需要管还不一定，但一定得是我们绝对不想被一个腐败的汉奸组织管。
本来共产党在国内的威望已经很低了，可偏偏你们美国有些人专门做反华的事情，我们只好支持自己的政府。
Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore,from 1959 to 1990, said nearly the exact same thing - a decade ago.
There was only a bit of controversy about his statement, because despite his repressive policies, he led Singapore to economic prominence.
If you study his policies you will quickly see why he was termed "the Hitler with a heart" for his eugenics programs.
His version of control worked. The PRC likes it, and likes him. Maybe we should be a bit worried.
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