Jackie Chan’s Remarks Called “Racist”

Jackie Chan round house kicked his foot into his own mouth this weekend.

Chan told a business forum in the southern Chinese province of Hainan that a free society may not be beneficial for China or its citizens.

“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.”

Although his remarks drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders (the guy was definitely playing to his audience), it drew an instant rebuke from 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.”

Other leaders have responded to Chan, calling his comments “racist.”

—Sasha Perl-Raver