In a promotional video for the latest Fast and Furious film, the actor and former professional wrestler, John Cena, characterised Taiwan as a country. China, which considers self-governing Taiwan to be part of its territory, reacted angrily to the interview.
John Cena apologised for referring to Taiwan as a country while promoting the next instalment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, “F9.” On the famous Chinese social media platform Weibo, the actor and professional wrestler apologised in Mandarin on Tuesday. “I made one mistake, I must say right now, very important, I love and respect Chinese people,” Cena said, according to BBC News. “I am very sorry for my mistake. I am so sorry, I apologize.”
Cena made his first remark during an interview with Taiwanese broadcaster TVBS. Taiwan will be the first “nation” to witness the ninth instalment of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, according to the 44-year-old.
His remark provoked fury on Chinese social media sites, as the status of Taiwan remains a contentious issue. According to BBC News, Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and disputes the idea that it is an independent state.
Cena made his first remark during an interview with a Taiwanese broadcaster, TVBS. Taiwan will be the first “nation” to witness the ninth instalment of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, according to the 44-year-old.
His remark provoked fury on Chinese social media sites, as the status of Taiwan remains a contentious issue. According to BBC News, Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and disputes the idea that it is an independent state.
John Cena to China after calling Taiwan a country: I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologise, I apologise, I’m very sorry.
He's promoting Fast and Furious 9pic.twitter.com/y1NpAkGFVj
— Shubhangi Sharma (@ItsShubhangi) May 25, 2021
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, but Beijing has attempted to limit Taiwan’s international influence and has not ruled out using force to regain the island. Cena, who has over 600,000 Weibo followers, has spent years studying Mandarin. Despite his best attempts, he admitted in 2017 that he still spoke the language like a “third grader.”
Some Weibo users believed Cena’s apology was not enough, while others were more empathetic. Meanwhile, Cena’s apology was panned by some American senators. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a Republican, termed it “sad.” According to Variety, “F9” released this weekend in foreign theatres after being delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, grossing over $162 million at the box office. The movie is expected to be one of the year’s biggest box office hits.
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Given Hollywood’s reliance on the Chinese box office, John Cena has taken great care not to offend China’s Communist regime in order to protect his movie and also his career which has not grown as quickly and quickly as he’d have hoped to. Having entered the Hollywood scene in 2006 with “The Marines”, his career has failed to reach the highs like that of his fellow wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Cena’s ill-timed gaffe could have cut short his miserable career as no Hollywood studio would have accepted him again for the plain and simple fact of the big Chinese market and loads of cash CCP bequeaths on Hollywood.