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Jackie Chan, though, is an apologist for the Mainland government, and even suggested that Taiwan, perhaps (as of now) the only Chinese-speaking democracy, has “

Jackie Chan, though, is an apologist for the Mainland government, and even suggested that Taiwan, perhaps (as of now) the only Chinese-speaking democracy, has “too much freedom.”

tomxor 8y ago
> is an apologist for the Mainland government Yes but doesn't any Chinese person have to be if they want to maintain any kind of ability to travel in China? _Especially_ if they are famous.
- jasonjei 8y ago
  That might be true, but I think HN readers are not commonly aware that he is one. He once said in December 2012, that “Hong Kong is a ‘city of protest,’ suggesting that demonstrators' rights in Hong Kong should be limited. The same month, in an interview with Phoenix TV, Chan stated that the United States was the ‘most corrupt’ country in the world.” This is a man whose made plenty of his fortune in the US. Before we heap praise on Jackie Chan, I think it’s important to know his full background.
  - kkarakk 8y ago
    i'm all for "exposing" how people really think but China is a country that literally disappears people, high profile internationally famous people like fan bingbing, for not paying their taxes. judicial process is almost a non-entity there if you anger the government.do you think chan has a choice in anything he says? his choices are to toe the government line or never go back to his homeland. do you also criticize the chinese installed panchen lama for not speaking up against china?
    - jasonjei 8y ago
      He does have a choice—and he lives in Hong Kong. There are those Hong Kong citizens that have expressed their free rights yet are not able to enter the Mainland. Here’s the HK newspaper view on him: https://m.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2176919/why-hypocritical-jackie-chans-empty-confessions-deserve-no-sympathy https://m.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2176919/why-hypocri... This is about Jackie Chan. I’m afraid you’re presenting a strawmam’s argument with respect to what else the Mainland Chinese government has done—while you seem to be refuting my argument, you are presenting an argument that I didn’t present. I’m obviously fairly critical of the Chinese government. I’m reminded of this poem: ``First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist. / Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist. / Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. / Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.’’
      - kkarakk 8y ago
        haha yeah so jackie chan should risk his life,fame and possessions so westerners he cares nothing about can feel good about lambasting china
        vhjcvnnb 8y ago
        Couldn’t agree more. The whole simplistic idea of just throwing everything that took years to build just because some stranger can feel good shows a lack of understanding the economic hardship it took to get there.
cribbles 8y ago
This is directly quoted in the linked article.
- jasonjei 8y ago
  Yes, it is, and I wanted people to be even more aware of something they might have glossed over in the article. Here is even more of his thought process: “Noting the strong tensions in Hong Kong and Taiwan, he said, ‘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.’”
m0skit0 8y ago
There's no country named "Taiwan". It is the Republic of China. "Taiwan" is the name of the island in Chinese. It is where the Chinese nationalist government (Kuomintang) sought refuge after losing mainland to the CCP. So it's not only a Chinese-speaking country, it claims to be the legitimate China.
- jasonjei 8y ago
  I didn’t say country “Taiwan.” I referred to it as “Taiwan,” just as you might say “California” or “Hong Kong” or “Singapore.” Those can be place names, right? And all three have varying forms of government. Surely a place known as “Taiwan” exists? And it is, for now, a place that has self-determination and democracy?
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > There's no country named "Taiwan". It is the Republic of China The informal name of the Republic of China is “Taiwan”, just as the informal name of the Republic of Korea is “South Korea”. > "Taiwan" is the name of the island in Chinese There is no one language “Chinese”, but “Taiwan” is a transcription of the Mandarin name of the island on which ~99% of the land area of the territory effectively administered by the Republic of China is located. (And also of the province containing the island, both for the ROC and PRC.)
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
vhjcvnnb 8y ago
Jackie Chan says a lot of shit all the time. I wouldn’t take his words literally. He is known for spewing out random nonsense now and then base on anecdotal evidence. Hence the uneducated part.

Jackie Chan, though, is an apologist for the Mainland government, and even suggested that Taiwan, perhaps (as of now) the only Chinese-speaking democracy, has “too much freedom.”

tomxor 8y ago

> is an apologist for the Mainland government Yes but doesn't any Chinese person have to be if they want to maintain any kind of ability to travel in China? _Especially_ if they are famous.

jasonjei 8y ago
That might be true, but I think HN readers are not commonly aware that he is one. He once said in December 2012, that “Hong Kong is a ‘city of protest,’ suggesting that demonstrators' rights in Hong Kong should be limited. The same month, in an interview with Phoenix TV, Chan stated that the United States was the ‘most corrupt’ country in the world.” This is a man whose made plenty of his fortune in the US. Before we heap praise on Jackie Chan, I think it’s important to know his full background.
- kkarakk 8y ago
  i'm all for "exposing" how people really think but China is a country that literally disappears people, high profile internationally famous people like fan bingbing, for not paying their taxes. judicial process is almost a non-entity there if you anger the government.do you think chan has a choice in anything he says? his choices are to toe the government line or never go back to his homeland. do you also criticize the chinese installed panchen lama for not speaking up against china?
  - jasonjei 8y ago
    He does have a choice—and he lives in Hong Kong. There are those Hong Kong citizens that have expressed their free rights yet are not able to enter the Mainland. Here’s the HK newspaper view on him: https://m.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2176919/why-hypocritical-jackie-chans-empty-confessions-deserve-no-sympathy https://m.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2176919/why-hypocri... This is about Jackie Chan. I’m afraid you’re presenting a strawmam’s argument with respect to what else the Mainland Chinese government has done—while you seem to be refuting my argument, you are presenting an argument that I didn’t present. I’m obviously fairly critical of the Chinese government. I’m reminded of this poem: ``First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist. / Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist. / Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. / Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.’’
    - kkarakk 8y ago
      haha yeah so jackie chan should risk his life,fame and possessions so westerners he cares nothing about can feel good about lambasting china
      - vhjcvnnb 8y ago
        Couldn’t agree more. The whole simplistic idea of just throwing everything that took years to build just because some stranger can feel good shows a lack of understanding the economic hardship it took to get there.

cribbles 8y ago

This is directly quoted in the linked article.

jasonjei 8y ago
Yes, it is, and I wanted people to be even more aware of something they might have glossed over in the article. Here is even more of his thought process: “Noting the strong tensions in Hong Kong and Taiwan, he said, ‘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.’”

m0skit0 8y ago

There's no country named "Taiwan". It is the Republic of China. "Taiwan" is the name of the island in Chinese. It is where the Chinese nationalist government (Kuomintang) sought refuge after losing mainland to the CCP. So it's not only a Chinese-speaking country, it claims to be the legitimate China.

jasonjei 8y ago
I didn’t say country “Taiwan.” I referred to it as “Taiwan,” just as you might say “California” or “Hong Kong” or “Singapore.” Those can be place names, right? And all three have varying forms of government. Surely a place known as “Taiwan” exists? And it is, for now, a place that has self-determination and democracy?
dragonwriter 8y ago
> There's no country named "Taiwan". It is the Republic of China The informal name of the Republic of China is “Taiwan”, just as the informal name of the Republic of Korea is “South Korea”. > "Taiwan" is the name of the island in Chinese There is no one language “Chinese”, but “Taiwan” is a transcription of the Mandarin name of the island on which ~99% of the land area of the territory effectively administered by the Republic of China is located. (And also of the province containing the island, both for the ROC and PRC.)
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

vhjcvnnb 8y ago

Jackie Chan says a lot of shit all the time. I wouldn’t take his words literally. He is known for spewing out random nonsense now and then base on anecdotal evidence. Hence the uneducated part.