Image credit: Gage Skidmore.
Jackie Chan, Hong Kong’s second most famous son, has been ragging on his hometown in the Chinese press, demonstrating the kind of unthinking, pro-Beijing line that he’s regrettably becoming notorious for.
In an interview with Southern People Weekly, published this week, Chan said “Hong Kong has become a city of protest. The whole world used to say it was South Korea. It is now Hong Kong.”
“People scold China’s leaders, or anything else they like, and protest against everything. The authorities should stipulate what issues people can protest over and on what issues it is not allowed.”
Chan’s remarks echo statements he made in 2009 to a film festival in Hainan, where he told an audience, “I don’t know whether it is better to have freedom or to have no freedom. With too much freedom, it can get very chaotic. It could end up like in Taiwan.” He went on, “Chinese people need to be controlled, otherwise they will do whatever they want”.
God forbid anyone do whatever they want. If Chinese people weren’t controlled they might do something awful like, for example, cheat on their wives with a former Ms Asia and then refuse to acknowledge their illegitimate daughter.
In response to Chan’s latest bout of verbal diarrhoea, Leung Man-tao, a Hong Kong based cultural critic who writes for mainland publications, told the SCMP “Chan doesn’t bother to understand why some Hong Kong people choose to take to the streets. He just tends to think that whatever the government does is correct.”
Hong Kong’s freedoms aren’t the only ones that Chan hates, he also recently took aim at the country that invented freedom, the U S of A (note: America did not invent freedom).
In an interview on Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV, Chan said that though China has its problems with corruption, America is “the most corrupt in the world”. He went on to say that Chinese people should not criticise their country in front of foreigners “We know our country has many problems. We (can) talk about it when the door is closed. To outsiders, (we should say,) ‘our country is the best’.”
Ministry of Tofu has collected some reactions from Chinese netizens who have a better understanding of patriotism than Chan’s “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” idiocy:
Most Chinese net users lashed out at Jackie Chan. Many made fun of his lack of basic common sense or logic. 虫子在北京 sighed, “What a poorly educated kid!” 袁裕来律师 wondered, “Which grade at school did Jackie Chan graduate from?” 潘帕斯雄猪 exclaimed, “Please, if you want to tell a good lie, tell an educated one. Go learn some knowledge before you contribute to CCP’s corruption.” 七木ca翁 was baffled, “‘The most corrupt country in the world is America.’ Where does this come from? ‘Supporting country’ means you cannot be opposed to corruption? Being opposed to corruption means non-support? Means ‘making an issue’? So, being opposed to corruption is wrong?”
Others pointed out Jackie Chan has a vested interest in glossing over the problems and defects of the Communist rule. 丫一幂 says, “His whitewash is for reaping bigger profits in the mainland!” 隔夜茶地盘 commented, “His desire for becoming an official must have driven him crazy.” 天朝外交官 was more blunt, “If I could get so many goddamn benefits every year, I would sing commies’ praises as well.”
Seriously Jackie, just shut up and go back to endorsing shampoo that gives people cancer.
