I’ve always pictured Jackie Chan has a cheery kinda chap, but as it turns out the Rush-Hour star is quite the political slash actor type, which by the way, you guys should know by now I absolutely hate.
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The ever trusty Washington Post reports on our comedian friend from the east,
Americans know Jackie Chan best for his cheery, acrobatic performances in action movies such as “Rumble in the Bronx” and “Rush Hour,” made successful by his amazing martial artistry and self-effacing comedy. Chinese know Chan, a Hong Kong native, for largely the same reasons. But they also know him for something most Americans might find surprising: He is passionately political, a staunch defender of the Chinese Communist Party and harsh critic of anyone he sees as opposing Beijing. Today, that includes the United States.
I guess it’s okay these days for actors to come to America from other countries while trashing US in some political way. Is it just me or is that wrong?
Now take a peek at what Chan said in the entire interview! Including calling America
the most corrupt country in the world.” Absolutely shocking.
Host: America.
Chan: The most corrupt in the world.
Host: Really?
Chan: Of course. Where does this Great Breakdown [financial crisis] come from? It started exactly from the world, the United States. When I was interviewed in the U.S., people asked me, I said the same thing. I said now that China has become strong, everyone is making an issue of China. If our own countrymen don’t support our country, who will support our country? We know our country has many problems. We [can] talk about it when the door is closed. To outsiders, [we should say] “our country is the best.”
Host: So he can’t get enough of his more than 20 ambassador titles. I think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should ask him to be the ambassador to the United States.
Chan: Seriously, I am always like, when the door is closed, “Our country is like this and this. Who and who is not good.” But outside, “Our country is the best, like so and so, is the best.” You cannot say our country has problems [when you are outside], like “Yes, our country is bad.”
This interview is probably not so surprising to Chinese viewers. Chan has been stirring controversy for a few years now for criticizing Taiwan and Hong Kong as models of what can go wrong when you have “too much freedom.” He once said, in defending China’s censorship of his films, “Chinese people need to be controlled, otherwise they will do whatever they want.” So, in some ways, it was probably only a matter of time until he set his sights on the United States. Given that he called Taiwanese democracy “the biggest joke in the world,” it’s surprising his criticism of the U.S., which is commonly viewed as either Taipei’s sponsor or its puppet-master, wasn’t harsher.
I’ll be right back, I think I have a few movies in my Netflix queue to remove…