Jackie Chan, tanks, and a close encounter with CCP anus
Well well! Whatever next? The king of martial arts mayhem has developed a latent tendency for brown-nosing by making some CCP-esque comments about freedom in China:
“I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not,” Chan said. “I’m really confused now. If you’re too free, you’re like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic.”
Chan added: “I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we’re not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”
Secretly, Chan has clearly always fancied himself as a tank driver. He’d have done a great job 20 years ago.
Thankfully, those pesky, anarchic students in Hong Kong have got a different, less anally oriented message for China’s leaders: be accountable; do it now!
Students at a Hong Kong university have called for the Chinese government to be held accountable for events in Tiananmen Square 20 years ago.
The booklet will now be made, after students from eight universities in Hong Kong criticised what they said were efforts to suppress freedom of speech.
Only 79 out of almost 2,000 students in the University of Hong Kong students’ union voted against the motion.
Correspondents say the result shows the continued strength of feeling about the killings in Tiananmen Square.
The university vote has garnered a lot of local media attention, especially during this sensitive period for Beijing in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen protests.
“We have had lots of discussion at the university and have realised there is a lot of diversity of views,” said Vincent Fok, council chairman in the students’ union.
He said Hong Kong students were more well-informed about the events than their counterparts from the mainland.
The union leader, Ayo Chan Yi-ngok, is under pressure after saying that some student leaders in the 1989 protest had acted irrationally.
At the City University, a plan to issue a booklet about the Tiananmen Square protests was initially quashed by students who said the 1989 events were of little relevance.
Gotta be proud of those HK students as the CCP net draws tighter around them.
On a related note People’s Daily (what a crappy name for a dictator’s mouthpiece) is censoring the names Zhao Ziyang and Hu Yaobang. That’s what happens when a child’s mind controls the media.
Update
Predictably, there has been a backlash from people in Taiwan and Hong Kong (at whom Chan’s comments were directed) against Chan’s support for state repression. Silly bugger; I could have told him it’s a bad idea to upset your fan base. Need a new PR man, Jackie?
There’s a very intelligent discussion going on at cnreviews following Kai Pan’s article on this story. He is basically taking issue with the ‘western media take’ on Chan’s remarks. It’s well worth a read, as are the comments that follow, even if I can’t quite agree with his angle.
April 19th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
“If we’re not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”
I do agree with him. We cannot let Chinese do what they want. They really need to be controlled. The question is who. No Hu !! He is Chinese too. So we must have someone else, must be non-Chinese to control Hu. May be Putin can do that ?
April 19th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Bill – I never thought about the comments in a wider context. Perhaps you’re right; Chan fears that China will go on a global rampage without restraint. Yeah, Putin could be our boy there – Obama’s too nice.
April 20th, 2009 at 2:56 am
[...] the rampant Western media frenzy over Jackie Chan supposedly saying that “Chinese people still need to be controlled ” during a panel discussion at the Boao Forum in Hainan, China [...]
April 20th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Stuart, while I found the graphics to be wholly appropriate for your reaction, I don’t think the Western translation of Chan’s comments and your subsequent interpretation of Chan supporting “state repression” is accurate. In fact, I found the translation to be sloppy, even potentially and intentionally sensationalist. I explained my thoughts in a post over at CNR: Jackie Chan Said “Chinese Need To Be Controlled”, Or Did He? If you’re keen, I’d be interested in hearing your disagreements.
April 20th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
“Chan fears that China will go on a global rampage without restraint. ”
Oh give me a break, that’s definitely not what Jackie Chan had in mind when he said what he said.
Obama is too nice. How about Brown?
April 20th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
“Oh give me a break, that’s definitely not what Jackie Chan had in mind …”
Either way, pffefer, I think we know whose ass he was kissing when he made those remarks.
Brown’s more of your cuddly teddy bear kind of leader – a bit too soft.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Kai – thanks for visiting.
I accept absolutely that the translation I based my article on could have been off somewhat, but that is not suggested in ‘backlash’ link that I gave as an update.
It’s also true that Jackie Chan was not explicitly coming out in favour of state repression, but I feel his comments were rather too dismissive of his Hong Kong roots, and the freedoms he’s enjoyed as a result of those origins.
As I replied to pffefer, Chan was certainly cosying up to mainland rhetoric, and when you put yourself next to the CCP on the eve of an anniversary that the people of HK have never forgotten (to their lasting endearment), then such comments are likely to be seen by many as insensitive.
Thanks again for stopping by, I’ll pop over to CNR and take a look.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:33 am
Hey Stuart, regarding Chan being dismissive of his Hong Kong roots, like Pomfret, I think at worst Chan’s just displaying the chauvinism of being part of the moneyed/privileged/elite class. You’re going to have plenty of rich and powerful Hong Kongers likewise thinking the poorer dregs of society cannot be trusted and should be held to a stricter/harsher standard than themselves. In that context, maybe Chan isn’t really betraying his Hong Kong roots at all.
Some people have argued that Chan’s betraying the very capitalist and free system that enabled him to get to where he is today. Sure, but you’re making assumptions about what the “guan” in his comment refers to. It isn’t fair to assume he’s saying the Chinese people should be deprived of the same freedom and means through which he became rich and successful. The fact is, you don’t know what he means with “guan” and you’re not asking. Worse, you’re assuming the worst of what he might mean, again, projecting onto him and his comments.
See the problem?
My reply to your comment on CNR here. Cheers.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:52 am
“Worse, you’re assuming the worst of what he might mean, again, projecting onto him and his comments.”
Perhaps, but then that’s where the story is. If there is ambiguity here I think it’s incumbent upon Chan to clarify.
Your point about “the moneyed/privileged/elite class” is well taken.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I have never liked Jackie Chan. The fellow is a clown.
However this time he has it right for once.
Democracy, at this stage would bring chaos to China. It is simply not worth the risk.
A country with many similarities to China – India, is hardly a paradise under so called ‘democracy.’
Neither is the Phillipines and Thailand.
And remember Zimbabwe also has one man one vote – as does South Africa – the country with I think the highest murder rate in the world.
Most Chinese in any case are not pining for democracy. They want economic progress.
Westerners obviously want so called democracy for China because in this way they can foment chaos and hopefully split China up.
Its all too obvious.
April 25th, 2009 at 11:29 am
“And remember Zimbabwe also has one man one vote”
I think you’ll find that’s “one man to vote for” – you know, the one China supports.
April 29th, 2009 at 4:51 am
[...] Candidates for what Jackie Chan said, Chinese people lack governance. [...]
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:30 pm
[...] Just in case anyone was in any doubt, China under CCP leadership are most definitely on the wrong side of this struggle for freedom, although Jackie Chan might disagree. [...]