By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, May 28: The famous WWE wrestler John Cena has become the latest celebrity to bend to Chinese market lures, as he apologized to China for calling Taiwan a country on Tuesday. The star described Taiwan as a country in an interview for a promotional video of the latest Fast & Furious film. The interview prompted an aggressive backlash amongst Chinese netizens, and whose government considers Taiwan as its own territory.
Cena posted a video message on social media apologizing for his “mistake” in Chinese language. “I made one mistake, I must say right now, very important, I love and respect Chinese people. I am very sorry for my mistake. I am so sorry, I apologize,” he said in the video posted on his Weibo account. Taiwan is a self-governing island state, separated from the mainland by the Taiwan Strait.
The Beijing administration has continued to oppose the suggestion that Taiwan is an independent state. The 44-year-old American celebrity’s large fan base of over 600,000 followers on Weibo responded to his apology. “Please say ‘Taiwan is part of China’ in Chinese, otherwise we will not accept,” one Weibo user wrote. Some users were more forgiving as another wrote, “I can feel that he really likes China… He said the wrong thing and paid the corresponding price.” The 17-time WWE champion is the latest in the line of high-profile western celebrities who were targeted for comments not in line with China’s political interests.
Cena’s obvious moves have angered many including Tibetans who say that the star has put fame and money over truth and decency. A Tibetan teenager in Dharamshala, Dawa told Phayul, “All those muscles and no strength to stand up for what is right. But what can we really expect from him? The man is a WWE wrestler and everyone knows that it is fake and drama. So not that far from how he earns his living.”
China had previously pressured an Australian airline Qantas to list Taiwan as a Chinese territory in June 2018. This year in March, western fashion brands including H&M, Nike and Burberry drew criticism from Chinese netizens over their concerns of human rights abuse in East Turkestan (Ch: Xinjiang). As a result, the online stores of the multimillion brands got blocked and logos were also blurred on Chinese media TV.
It is very unfortunate that someone like John Cena, an American citizen, has kowtowed to China. Taiwan is a de facto independent country that has never been ruled by the PRC or the CCP. People have the right to freedom of expression. Forcing others to bow to your view only is imperialism. But that sort of imperialistic/colonial view is typical of the PRC.
This shows how this man is a simpleton and a coward!
With only money on his mind!
Shame on you Cena!