John Cena apologizes in Mandarin and declares love for China after calling Taiwan a country
John Cena grovels in Mandarin and declares his love for China after accidentally wading into territorial dispute by calling Taiwan a country on TV while promoting new Fast & Furious movie
- Cena was being interviewed on Taiwanese TV to promote F9, the new Fast & Furious movie
- He said, in Mandarin: ‘Taiwan is the first country that can watch F9.’
- Chinese fans were irate that he referred to Taiwan as a country, and not part of China
- They flooded Weibo – where Cena has 600,000 followers – with complaints
- Taiwan sees itself as an autonomous democracy and nation but China considers it a Chinese territory that they will reclaim
- Cena found himself at the heart of the complex issue and issued an apology, on Weibo, in Mandarin
- He groveled: ‘I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake.’
- It is the latest example of Hollywood and big business bowing to China for fear of retaliation
- Fast & Furious 9 smashed through the box office during its May 21 release in China last weekend, raking in $148 million
John Cena has apologized in Mandarin and declared his love for China after angering fans there by referring to Taiwan as a country, going against their belief that it is Chinese territory, and putting their box office loyalty in jeopardy.
Taiwan considers itself an independent nation with its own government but the Chinese consider it a breakoff territory. It is a source of contention in Asia and around the world, and where other countries stand on it can tip their diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Earlier this year, the US State Department said its support of Taiwan was ‘rock solid’ despite threats from the Chinese not to side with Taipei in the ongoing dispute. China has, in recent months, sent warplanes over the Taiwan Strait as a show of intimidation and a test of its allies’ support.
Cena found himself at the center of the row when, during an interview on the Taiwanese network TVBS, he said in Mandarin: ‘Taiwan is the first country that can watch F9.’ [his new Fast & Furious movie].
Cena is fluent in Mandarin, having picked it up when he was touring the world as a WWE wrestler. China has long been a major market for Hollywood, but it also rakes in millions for the American wrestling industry too.
Chinese fans, after seeing his video, were irate that after years of worshiping him, Cena didn’t identify Taiwan as part of China.
They slammed him on Weibo – often called the ‘Chinese Twitter’ – and threatened to boycott the movie franchise in response to his comments.
‘Fast & Furious can say goodbye! WWE star John Cena (Xina Zhao) said that Taiwan is the first “country” where you can see “F9”. He has studied Chinese for so many years and said that he loves China very much. This mistake really shouldn’t happen,’ one said.
Cena, feeling the heat of the criticism from Chinese fans, recorded an apology video which he released on Weibo – where he has 600,000 followers.
John Cena released a video on Weibo this week, apologizing to fans and saying how much he loved China, after outraging them by calling Taiwan a ‘country’ in an interview. Cena is fluent in Mandarin and often releases videos on Weibo to connect with fans. China is one of the largest markets for the Fast & Furious franchise. F9 – the most recent movie – pulled in over $130million in its opening weekend in China
He groveled: ‘Hi China, I’m John Cena. I’m in the middle of Fast and Furious 9 promotions.
‘I’m doing a lot of interviews.
‘I made a mistake in one of my interviews.
‘Everyone was asking me if I could use Chinese – [movie] staff gave me a lot of information, so there was a lot of interviews and information.
‘I made one mistake. I have to say something very, very, very important now.
‘I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake.
‘I apologize, I apologize, I’m very sorry.
‘You must understand that I really love, really respect China and the Chinese people. My apologies. See you.’
The video was played 2.4 million times on the strictly-controlled social media site, while Chinese media leapt on the apology.
It is the latest example of Hollywood and big business bowing to China out of fear of losing the exorbitant profits that are up for grabs there.
Last year, Pen America – a free speech organization based in New York – issued a damning report about how Hollywood had been repeatedly bowing to pressure from China for fear of losing out on the money it represents for the industry.
‘Studio parent companies have a slate of Chinese business interests.
‘Disney, for example, has a 47 percent stake in the Shanghai Disneyland Park, which opened in 2016 and which cost over $5.5 billion to build.
‘Universal Studios, meanwhile, is planning to open the Universal Beijing Resort next year—complete with two theme parks, six hotels, a waterpark, and an entertainment complex—with construction reportedly continuing even during the coronavirus pandemic.
This is the type of backlash Cena had been receiving on Weibo after going on Taiwanese TV network TVBS and calling Taiwan a country. The post above is from Weibo but has been translated from its original format
Last year, PEN America – a free speech organization – released a damning report about the ways in which China was censoring Hollywood and how Hollywood execs were rolling over for the sake of box office profits
‘All of these business pressures combine so that, in the words of University of California Los Angeles Professor Michael Berry, Hollywood studios “would be silly not to address the censors.
‘The Hollywood companies are increasingly savvy and increasingly paranoid.
‘Instituting self-censorship is the way to go, especially as the big mainstream blockbusters need China. Hollywood has internalized these self-censorship mechanisms.’
In 2019, the NBA found itself at the center of a global debate over protests in Hong Kong after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeting in support of Hong Kong protests.
He then deleted the tweet and apologized to China.
The NBA commissioner defended him and Beijing blacked out some basketball games in retaliation which cut ad profits massively.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said afterwards that while he abhors China’s human rights abuses, American businesses had to be ‘careful’ about ‘which battles they pick’ because the market is so enormous in Asia.
Hollywood has been bowing to China investment for years, too.
PEN America – an American, freedom of expression organization founded in New York City – recently released a report saying the American film industry has begun self-censoring to save Chinese box office numbers .
Apple last week agreed to give the Chinese Communist Party access to all of the country’s users’ data.
It is also working with a state lab and wiping apps such as news sites and gay dating services at the government’s request, according to a New York Times report.
Apple makes most of its products in China.
President Biden hasn’t yet taken a firm stance on the issue but all of the indicators suggest he supports Taiwan.
His administration has called Taiwan a ‘a critical security partner’ and they have been quietly preparing military strategies that would defend Taiwan should the Chinese increase their presence there.
Taiwan is also of key value to the US because it is where much of the technology that the western world relies on is made.