John Cena, the professional wrestler and a star of “F9,”
the latest installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, apologized to fans in China on Tuesday after he referred to
Taiwanas a country while giving a promotional interview.
Joining a long list of celebrities and companies that have profusely apologized after taking an errant step through China’s political minefields, Mr. Cena
posted a video apology in Mandarin on Weibo, a Chinese social network.
Beijing considers Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island, to be a breakaway province and claims it as part of China. Referring to it as a country is often an offensive assertion in China, where matters of sovereignty and territory are passionate issues driven by a strong sense of nationalism.
Mr. Cena apologized for a statement he made in an interview with the Taiwanese broadcaster TVBS. In it, he told the reporter in Mandarin, “Taiwan is the first country that can watch” the film.
“I made a mistake,” Mr. Cena said in his apology video. “Now I have to say one thing which is very, very, very important: I love and respect China and Chinese people.”
He continued: “I’m very sorry for my mistakes. Sorry. Sorry. I’m really sorry. You have to understand that I love and respect China and Chinese people.”
Mr. Cena has studied Mandarin for years and regularly posts on Weibo, but many of his Chinese fans were not quick to forgive.
“Please say ‘Taiwan is part of China’ in Chinese. Otherwise, we will not accept your apology,” one Weibo user responded in a comment that was liked thousands of times.
Western companies and celebrities that do business in China — and it can be very big business, especially for the entertainment industry — are often forced to walk a political tightrope to not offend Chinese sensibilities. For many, this is achieved by staying as far away from politics as possible, steering clear of questions about mass detentions in
Xinjiang, pro-democracy protests in
Hong Kong or the status of
Taiwan and
Tibet.
