Beijing: American superstar and wrestler John John apologized to Chinese fans on Tuesday after calling Taiwan a country during an interview to promote his latest film “Fast and Furious 9”.
Speaking to Taiwanese television station DVBS earlier this month, 44-year-old John said Taiwan was the first “country” to watch the latest Fast and Furious.
China considers Taiwan as its own province, which most of the people of the autonomous and democratic island reject.
“I made a mistake. I’m very sorry for this mistake,” he said in the language of John Mandarin in a video posted on his account on Weibo, a popular microblog like Twitter in China.
“I love and respect China and the Chinese people,” he said.
John joins a long list of international celebrities who have increasingly angered nationalist Chinese audiences with comments about Taiwan, Hong Kong or Xinjiang.
While many airlines and hotels have apologized to China in recent years for listing Taiwan on their booking sites, companies have also been on fire.
China’s apology was not enough for many prominent Chinese Netizens.
“Use Mandarin to say that Taiwan is a part of China. Otherwise, we will not accept the apology. ”Read a comment on Gina’s apology video, which received many” options “.
The apology was not widely received in the United States.
“Can anyone please help John Gina find her spine?” Matt Caroline, director of the American news site Boston.com, wrote on Twitter.
U.S. Senator Tom Cotton said in a tweet that the apology was “pathetic.”
When Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded, there was no point in criticizing John in the United States.
He told a regular news conference in Beijing on Wednesday that Cotton’s comments were “like scrap paper”.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
The film has been a box office hit in mainland China since its May 21 opening.
Last weekend, China had $ 135 million in the film’s $ 162 million in revenue, according to the US entertainment publication Variety.
