Jackie Chan says freedom is bad and dictatorship is good?!

[Winston]

I just saw on Taiwanese news that Jackie Chan said publicly that Taiwan has too much freedom, which is a bad thing in his view, and ought to be under a dictatorship like China. He thinks dictatorships are a good thing!

Why would a fun loving funny humorous guy like Jackie Chan say such an odd thing?

And isn't he worried about damaging his public reputation by saying such things?

Momopi?

[Winston]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... olled.html

Jackie Chan says Chinese people need to be 'controlled'

Jackie Chan has triggered controversy by claiming Chinese people are so chaotic they need to be firmly controlled by the government.

The actor told a forum on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, whose attendees included Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, he was not sure "freedom" was necessary.

Chan, 55, whose latest movie, Shinjuku incident, was banned in China, was asked about censorship and restriction on the mainland. He expanded his comments to discuss Chinese society in general.

"I'm not sure if it is good to have freedom or not," he said. "I'm really confused now. If you are too free, you are like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic."

He added: "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we are not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

His comments were applauded by the Chinese audience, but triggered fury in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Leung Kwok-hung, a pro-democracy MP in Hong Kong, said: "He has insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people are not pets. Chinese society needs a democratic system to protect human rights and rule of law."

Albert Ho, another MP, said Mr Chan was "racist" and added: "People around the world are running their own countries. Why can't the Chinese do the same?"

Mr Chan is a favourite of the authorities in Beijing, and performed in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics.

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

However, he lost some of his goodwill among the audience when he criticised the quality of Chinese-made goods.

"If I need to buy a television, I would definitely buy a Japanese television," he said. "A Chinese television might explode."

[Winston]

That's odd. Why is it bad for people to do "what they want"?

And if he is loved by the authorities in China and vice chairman of the China Film Association, why would his latest movie be banned in China? That's strange.

I thought Jackie Chan was a cool guy. Now he's become an advocate of dictatorship and control? Weird guy.

[momopi]

I just saw on Taiwanese news that Jackie Chan said publicly that Taiwan has too much freedom, which is a bad thing in his view, and ought to be under a dictatorship like China. He thinks dictatorships are a good thing!

Why would a fun loving funny humorous guy like Jackie Chan say such an odd thing?

And isn't he worried about damaging his public reputation by saying such things?

Momopi?

He's just taking another stab at DPP in TW. Just my personal opinion, I think he's going to get into politics in HK or China in the future.

[Winston]

Why does he want to get involved in dirty corrupt politics though? Does he have enough fun making movies? Isn't he afraid of turning his fans against him with such remarks?

[ladislav]

With his kind of money, and the fact that he is not living like a poor person on Mainland, he may see the benefits of orderly dictatorships because they do not affect him personally. This is one problem about armchair political philosophers - unless they themselves know what it is like to be rank and file citizen in a dictatorship, their opinion does not really matter. Dictatorships do have some benefits and are not 100% bad. What ultimately decides whether it is good or bad is how majority of the people in that dictatorship feel about it.

[Winston]

With his kind of money, and the fact that he is not living like a poor person on Mainland, he may see the benefits of orderly dictatorships because they do not affect him personally. This is one problem about armchair political philosophers - unless they themselves know what it is like to be rank and file citizen in a dictatorship, their opinion does not really matter. Dictatorships do have some benefits and are not 100% bad. What ultimately decides whether it is good or bad is how majority of the people in that dictatorship feel about it.

W: Well that's the thing, in a dictatorship, people live in fear, so when asked, they are all going to say they like the dictatorship. The majority of those in Nazi Germany would say they like their dictatorship, because if they didn't, they'd be arrested. That's the oxymoron. Same with Stalin's regime. So you can't get a true opinion.

I don't get why Chan thinks Taiwan and HK are chaotic though. They seem very orderly, strict, stern, solemn, serious and restrictive to me, at least the vibe is. It's on the faces of the mass public in those countries. I don't see any chaos or a wild, open, "anything goes" type of vibe or atmosphere there.

Maybe Jackie Chan hasn't really traveled that much, or he only stays in the richest and most sheltered part of every country he goes to.

[momopi]

Why does he want to get involved in dirty corrupt politics though? Does he have enough fun making movies? Isn't he afraid of turning his fans against him with such remarks?

Ronald Reagan
Arnold Schwarzenegger
...Jackie Chan?

[The_Adventurer]

All you have to do is watch a Jackie Chan movie from the 1990's and watch one from today and it becomes clear that his days are numbered in his current career. He is simply getting to old to do what he does best, and so it might be time to seek another line of work.

Any forward thinking man, looking at emerging economies or powers, if forced to choose between the love of China, Hong Kong or Taiwan, would be wise to put their money on China.

[Winston]

All you have to do is watch a Jackie Chan movie from the 1990's and watch one from today and it becomes clear that his days are numbered in his current career. He is simply getting to old to do what he does best, and so it might be time to seek another line of work.

Any forward thinking man, looking at emerging economies or powers, if forced to choose between the love of China, Hong Kong or Taiwan, would be wise to put their money on China.

W: Yeah but he's rich enough to retire and live in his mansion, travel the world, and not work. That's what I'd do.

Why doesn't he become a director or a comedy actor without stunts and kung fu?

Why doesn't he just not take sides between China, Hong Kong and Taiwan?