Jackie Chan: Chinese people need to be controlled

[Cannonball888]

How hipocritcal coming from someone who made his fortune in Hong Kong and free America.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090418/ap_on_en_mo/as_china_people_jackie_chan_6

Jackie Chan: Chinese people need to be controlled

By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer William Foreman, Associated Press Writer
Sat Apr 18, 2:48 pm ET
 
BOAO, China – Action star Jackie Chan said Saturday he's not sure if a free society is a good thing for China and that he's starting to think "we Chinese need to be controlled."

Chan's comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders in China's southern island province of Hainan.

The 55-year-old Hong Kong actor was participating in a panel at the annual Boao Forum when he was asked to discuss censorship and restrictions on filmmakers in China. He expanded his comments to include society.

"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."

The kung fu star has not been a vocal supporter of the pro-democracy movement in his hometown of Hong Kong. Since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, voters have not been allowed to directly elect their leader. Several massive street protests have been held to demand full democracy, but Beijing has repeatedly said Hong Kong isn't ready for it.

The theme at Saturday's panel discussion was "Tapping into Asia's Creative Industry Potential," and Chan had several opinions about innovation in China.

He said that early in his career, he lived in the shadow of the late martial arts star Bruce Lee. He said that during his first foray into Hollywood, he struggled to establish his own identity, so he returned to Hong Kong. After spending 15 years building his reputation in Asia, Chan finally got rediscovered by Hollywood, he said.

Chan said the problem with Chinese youth is that "they like other people's things. They don't like their own things." Young people need to spend more time developing their own style, he added.

The action hero complained that Chinese goods still have too many quality problems. He became emotional when discussing contaminated milk powder that sickened tens of thousands of Chinese babies in the past year.

Speaking fast with his voice rising, Chan said, "If I need to buy a TV, I'll definitely buy a Japanese TV. A Chinese TV might explode."

[MicroBalrog]

It's a typical thing for members of the social elite - billionaires, Hollywood stars, politicians and ranking bureaucrats - to want the general public to be 'controlled'. I wonder why that is.

[Standing Wolf]

It's a typical thing for members of the social elite - billionaires, Hollywood stars, politicians and ranking bureaucrats - to want the general public to be 'controlled'. I wonder why that is.

If you have a very small, weak ego, the easiest way to push yourself up is to push someone else down.

[wquay]

Chan displayed moderation and humility in that article. But, I guess he is wealthy and famous, so he must be a member of the "elite," and anything he says is either disingenuous or psychotic.

[Stand_watie]

Chan may just be displaying a typically culturally Chinese mindset with such thoughts.

[roo_ster]

Chan may just be displaying a typically culturally Chinese mindset with such thoughts.

Whether it is cultural or personal, it is still disgusting.

Not all cultures or opinions are of equal value.  "Putting a bone through one's nose is not an accomplishment equivalent to putting a man on the moon."

[seeker_two]

Methinks the Chinese gov't has gotten a few hooks into the man.....makes me wonder what's coming next for Hong Kong..... 

[MechAg94]

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."

As opposed to doing what exactly?  That is some logic I just can't follow. 

[mfree]

What he's trying to get across is that he thinks the Chinese people have no ethics, or morals for that matter.

"If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

Prime evidence of it, right there.

[Bogie]

One thing to consider before going off...
 
Comedians make their living from researching and understanding a target group's fundamentals.
 
And I've also heard that he cannot speak English work a damn... Kinda like that guy who starred in Desperado - he can do lines, etc., pretty well, because he -is- a good actor, but... So you are probably looking at someone's translation/interpretation.
 
Essentially, he is sounding like "the people are culturally conditioned to be part of a larger unit, and they flounder in strange directions without strong leadership." In essence, I read it not as "we need to be controlled," but as "we have a need to be controlled."
 
And looking at history, that makes sense. And if you take the time to read the whole thing, he makes sense.
 

[Lee]

There can be too much of a good thing, too soon.  Maybe that's what he meant.
People said the much same thing here in the 1960's.  Absolute political and cultural freedom can be a real shocker. Multiply it times a billion people, who have no experience with it, and it can be a disaster. 

[mtnbkr]

Concur with Bogie and Lee.  I did some reading on Chinese people and culture back in the mid 90s and that was the sort of impression I walked away from.  They have a different mindset and culture when it comes to freedom as we perceive it. 

Also, I've heard Jackie Chan speak in an uncontrolled venue (not in a movie) and his English is terrible.  Better than my Chinese, but he certainly is prone to misusing words and phrases.

Chris

[red headed stranger]

Chan may just be displaying a typically culturally Chinese mindset with such thoughts.

This was my first thought as well.   In my experience dealing with Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans overseas is that there is an authoritarian streak in each of these cultures that places high value in a leader with a strong hand to keep things orderly. 

It isn't my ideal, but it is deeply ingrained in these cultures, and it isn't going to change overnight. 

[Dannyboy]

As opposed to doing what exactly?  That is some logic I just can't follow. 

That's what I was wondering.  It's like he thinks there is no middle ground between totalitarianism and anarchism. 

[mtnbkr]

It's like he thinks there is no middle ground between totalitarianism and anarchism. 

Welcome to Asia...

Chris

[Cannonball888]

Follow-up: anger from Hong Kong and Taiwan


http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/jackie-chans-china-comments-prompt-backlash-ap

Sun Apr 19, 2009, 4:20 am EDT
           
HONG KONG - Action star Jackie Chan 's comments wondering whether Chinese people "need to be controlled" have drawn sharp rebuke in his native Hong Kong and in Taiwan .

Chan told a business forum in the southern Chinese province of Hainan that a free society may not be beneficial for China 's authoritarian mainland.

"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not," Chan said Saturday. "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."

He went on to say that freedoms in Hong Kong and Taiwan made those societies "chaotic."

Chan's comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders, but did not sit well with lawmakers in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

"He's insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren't pets," Hong Kong pro-democracy legislator Leung Kwok-hung told The Associated Press. "Chinese society needs a democratic system to protect human rights and rule of law."

Another lawmaker, Albert Ho, called the comments "racist," adding: "People around the world are running their own countries. Why can't Chinese do the same?"

Former British colony Hong Kong enjoys Western-style civil liberties and some democratic elections under Chinese rule. Half of its 60-member legislature is elected, with the other half picked by special interest groups. But Hong Kong's leader is chosen by a panel stacked with Beijing loyalists.

In democratically self-ruled Taiwan, which split from mainland China during a civil war in 1949, legislator Huang Wei-che said Chan himself "has enjoyed freedom and democracy and has reaped the economic benefits of capitalism. But he has yet to grasp the true meaning of freedom and democracy."

Chan's comments were reported by news outlets in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but were ignored by the mainland Chinese press.

Although Chan was a fierce critic of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 1989, which killed at least hundreds, he has not publicly criticized China's government in recent years and is immensely popular on the mainland.

He performed during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and took part in the Olympic torch relay .

Chan also is vice chairman of the China Film Association, a key industry group.

___

Associated Press writer Annie Huang in Taipei contributed to this report.

[seeker_two]

Although Chan was a fierce critic of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 1989, which killed at least hundreds, he has not publicly criticized China's government in recent years and is immensely popular on the mainland.

He performed during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and took part in the Olympic torch relay .

Chan also is vice chairman of the China Film Association, a key industry group.

Hooks....

[Dannyboy]

Welcome to Asia...

Chris

I wouldn't necessarily say that.  I spent a year in Korea and was pretty amazed at the turn-around they had made in a relatively short time.  Of course, their gov't. isn't perfect but they've done well for themselves in the last 20 years.

[El Tejon]

Control over others is a central tenet of Chinese philosophy long before Mao.

[Seenterman]

Maybe he's talking about Quality Control? 

In that respects I agree!

Can anyone say possible influence by an totalitarian government? Maybe not sure how likely but I wouldn't be suprized.

[Balog]

Is his family still in the  mainland?