Jackie Chan’s recent remarks has gotten him quite a bit of press. Apparently the actor went on some rantings about his personal political view that “Chinese needs to be controlled”. There were some debate about whether “controlled” is the appropriate translation and he might have really meant “regulated”. Where he got the most heat, however, is for saying that HK and Taiwan are “chaotic” due to “too much freedom”.
Chan’s remakrs have spurred strong criticisms from HK and Taiwan, some suggesting that Chan should be stripped off his various “ambassador” responsibilites. What’s ironic about this is that while this is all in the name of defending freedom/democracy, they are, at the same time, squandering it. Social pressure and self-censorship is a powerful and dangerous force.
I hope Chan will not bow to social pressure and apologize for expressing his opinions. We shall see.
Update: NYTimes just published an article on this as well.
