Jackie Chan: Chinese People Need To Be Controlled

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."

Comments

[unscum]

Chan is only an actor and the people that were his audience are only a bunch of rich business people. Revolution in China will sweep all these people aside.

[getalong]

I understand where you're coming from and what you mean... but you're wrong.

Obviously, law and order must exist, and people do need to be controlled. But let's not go from one extreme to the other, Jackie. China has gone way to far with their control over the people, to the point that total chaos might actually be a step up.

Besides. You are exhibiting the same fears that many had before the English and US revolutions. And they turned out to be wrong. While I do sympathize and truly understand your position, I believe that if you studied history well enough, you would see how your wrong.

(Why am I talking to Jackie Chan? He's not reading this.)

[sedum]

He not allowed to read what you say.

[Nanningyan]

Actually he probably is. When I am there I view the Huffington post and CNN and Fox.

[negogato]

I'm reading it right now in Hong Kong.

[Amalek]

I am reading it in Beijing.

[cricket]

most dumbest statement i have heard from a celebrity. even coutney love or paris hilton would sound smarter than jackie chan.

[AtheistUS]

Why is that? Because you are a great expert of China history and politics?

Each country gradually develops accordingly to its traditions. Ask Russians about their 'evil 90s', the time of too much chaos.

Do you assume we got ideal society here in US?

[coultersnemesis]

lol of course we don't have an ideal society--but "the people need to be controlled"? LOL come on, what a screw up!

[indyleftist]

Its always sad when stars allow themselves to be political props
I'd tend to cut him a little slack for putting his foot in his mouth because he was trying to express complex thoughts in a second language, so maybe it made more sense in his head. But still....

Just watched "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" the other night. Great movie

[willain]

No, Chan grew up speaking Chinese; his English is no better than mine even I lived most of life in China and only had the opportunity to live among native English speakers for just a few years.

[indyleftist]

Yeah.....that's what I was saying.
I'm pretty sure these quotes are him speaking english. Which is his second language

[Amalek]

He grew up speaking Cantonese, and is even clumsier in Mandarin than he is in English.

[negogato]

Well they speak Mandarin in Hainan. Jackie is a Cantonese speaker but surely is fluent in Mandarin. Nearly everyone in Hong Kong is bilingual and that includes the people with little education and little experience traveling outside Hong Kong.
Maybe you know better his language skills. But as a rule, educated people in Hong Kong speak Mandarin very well.

[Amalek]

Most Hongkies who speak mandarin speak with such a strong accent no one on the mainland understands them.

It is a myth, spread by Hong Kong people trying to remain relevant in the opening up of China, that they actually understand the language and culture.

[Amalek]

We need to come to the realization that American style democracy may not be for everyone.

The last eight years is proof positive that the system is prone to short term failure.

I don't think that the answer is an autocratic system, but I would be going pretty slow with democratic reforms if I were China today. The right system is one that allows people to live a prosperous and complete life. The standard of living for Chinese has increased so substantially that most of them do not wish to see big changes in China and are quite happy with their system of government.

Freedom is an elusive concept. How free are you when you can't find a job, and the bank forecloses on your house? Perhaps Janis Joplin had it right "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose".

[coultersnemesis]

what's the gini coefficient. Yes, i understand GDP if growing for China--but what about increased inequality. I remember, during the earthquake, many poor people (poor people in a communist state?) died in the poorly-built building becasue the wealthier children were in the sturdier, higher quality building receiving a better education (doesn't seem too egalitarian to me)

Plus, economic systems and political systems are different things. What failed in the US is not democracy (you can say Bush was a failure, but we don't have a dictatorship, so this means not all bad things were his fault only) but it was a failure of capitalism--it shows that unfettered capitalism will devour itself. Now we are seeing injection of socialist policies to once again save capitalism from itself.

I don't understand why China cannot have a democratic communist/socialist state. Anyway, most developed countries are a mix of democracy, capitalism and socialism.

I'm very suspicious when business people cheer on the words "the people need to be controlled" That's very scary--it's fascism.

[Nanningyan]

quite unlike the United States eh? All the children here attend classes in the same well built schools as the rich folks attend? I dare say that an 8 something earthquake here would have taken down far more buildings than it did in China. I also find it interesting that the western news media kept showing the same few structures and never did show the many new structures that experienced little or no damage. Remember also that the main city of the earthquake is four times the population of Las Angeles.
Many of the criticisms I am reading here have some merit but most are based on either no actual knowledge of China or of a distorted view presented over the last fifty years by the American media.

[willain]

(continued)

west of Beijing, change his name to something like "Norom," give him a donkey or two, a bike or even a dirt bike, let him earn US$150.00 a month and he can spend almost all of it (with control, of course), while still support a school-age kid, and without any of his fame, just an ordinary Chinese that needs to be controlled.

Then, Chan probably will be able to get his intelligence (and maybe half brain?) back to see through this control thing. Oh wait, by that time, he's being controlled, anyway. And such intelligence is useless.

How pathetic!

[willain]

First, I'm from mainland China and lived there more than 30 years.

Whatever the culture/history was, the basic human nature is the same: anybody, including Chinese, doesn't want to be a slave in the sense that you can only do what you're told to. That's an undeniable human nature (Wasn't that why Eve, and then Adam ate the apple? The famous serpent, a.k.a. demon, bad guy, was just a scapegoat).

I don't know anything further about what Chan said other than here on the post. But to him, there is a lack of control in both Hong Kong and Taiwan and that is bad. And he's thinking that is good in Mainland China because of people being controlled.

It's sad to see such a popular star, who grew up in Hong Kong and made famous both in HK and USA , made such statement. I believe Chan had the intelligence to distinguish what that kind of control really means in China. Does he still has that? Let's see:

If the answer is yes, he was plainly lying to get the monetary benefit to say that.

If a 'no', that's probably because his brain is somewhat damaged for performing so many stunts, which included using his brain (head, sorry; his brain probably almost gone by now).

Maybe, somehow, someone in control should send him to a mountainous area, about 300 miles
(to be continued)

[BlackWidowPilot]

No, Mr. Chan, it is China's runaway environmental depredations that need to be controlled, lest they adversely affect the planetary environment to the eternal sorrow of our entire species.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[coultersnemesis]

Perhaps, but do you think it's fair for developed economies, who have already done their environmental damage during the height of the industrial revolutions, to not allow developing countries to pollute to develop, too? Unless rich countries subsidize the poor to develop with greener, more expensive, technology, i don't see how it's fair at all. PErhaps, though, the US can specialize in profitable new green industry and start a whole new revolution! :)

[BlackWidowPilot]

The whole 'fairness' argument is a complete red herring. It is as if you're saying well, because you were a meth maker and user, it's my God-given right to be one too, even if it means I may very well burn the house down and kill us all.

Rubbish.

The Chinese would do well to heed their ancient wisdom, and learn from the mistakes of others, including and perhaps -especially- the developed world. What they do in the next ten years alone with industrialization and atmospheric pollution could decide whether or not our species lasts a few decades more as the planetary environment spins out of control, or last perhaps millions of years to achieve far, far greater things than we've ever achieved before.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[negogato]

It is easy to criticize. But people in the United States do not have the constitutional right to vote. States have the right to regulate the voting so that votes will not be counted and voters will not be allowed to vote. Fix democracy in America. That right of a State to regulate the vote = deny the vote and it is in our constitution. That is why we need a constitutional amendment..
Chan has a very interesting point. To some people Democracy is a style to be taken on without question like NBA sneakers. In some cases Democracy founded after 1776 in other countries is better than ours. In other cases it is a sham to allow tyrants to rig elections and hold on to power. That is because the idea of Democracy is so powerful.
Conservative people in the USA would agree with Jackie Chan if it came to an amendment to the constitution that would give USA citizens here the ABSOLUTE RIGHT to vote. and take that right away from politically appointed state officials. It would weaken states rights. American people need to be controlled, they would say.
Democracy is still a radical idea. Just ask Kathleen Harris.

[coultersnemesis]

true--votes can be manipulated via restrictions, for example some states do not allow convicts to vote. Your point about absolute democracy is moot because nobody thinks we have that--we know we are a REPRESENTATIVE democracy. It's just that the founder' words, liberalism in the form of Mills, the words are just so darn beautiful! How can you argue against the idea that the collective wisdom of the people will always be superior to that of a few, and how can the best ideas ever be heard or enacted if they are suppressed? And how can you argue against the idea that sovereignty lies with the common man and woman and that government serves them, not the other way around. Power corrupts, and even the most benign, 'communist' leaders will become corrupt if no one is allowed to check their power and no one is allowed to criticize.

[MoeJava]

"The Chinese need to be controlled" ????

Everyone except Mr Chan, I'll bet. He far exceeds the normal chinese worker in wages, so of course, he wants the poor and disenfranchised to be "controlled", but he should be allowed freedom and access to anything he wants...... ??

Huh?

[hamchunk]

For a bunch of people that constantly moan about freedom, especially the freedom of speech, there seems to be allot of apologists for J. Chan's comments and PR China political actions. Regardless of how China is made to appear, it is, to the average Chinese, a brutal, harsh existence that has few comforts.

[Amalek]

I take it you have not been to China lately?

[Nanningyan]

most of the people who so vocally criticize Jackie and China have never left their birth city. In the US a waitress makes minimum wage and tips and cannot support herself, in Nanning they get a wage and no tips but can support themselves, albeit a meager existence.
In the US I need $2,000 to get by and in Nanning I live well on $500. So let's factor that into the freedom equation.

[negogato]

Spot on Amalek.

[hamchunk]

If you choose to live on your knees, that is your choice.

[superstition]

"Chan said, 'If I need to buy a TV, I'll definitely buy a Japanese TV. A Chinese TV might explode.'"

And there you have it, folks: Chan's referendum on the value of Chinese control.

[negogato]

Japaneese televisions have better quality control.. I am here in China right now and people prefer Japaneese computers for the same reason, better quality control and a Japanese brand name means quality.
What China has is a newly emerging free enterprise system low quality control in manufacturing and huge demand domestic and for export. The government does not manufacture Television sets my friend. The government does not put lead in paint on toys and the government did not sell toxic milk product to infants. There was no regulation until after the fact in all of those cases. They do not have that measure of control.

[superstition]

You missed the point.

[Amalek]

There is no such thing as a japanese tv. Only a japanese TV made in China. China makes all TVs.

[coultersnemesis]

but that sounds like unfettered capitalism--like the US in the 1800's! Does China allow child labor, too? I thought China was communist, out for the little guy, does China have labor unions?

[JuniorBug]

Before judging him, one must consider the environment in which Chan was raised: the Peking Opera. Imagine the usual stresses of a child star, and then multiply them by twenty and mix in institutionalized child abuse. His days, from the time he was five years old to the time he was in his teens, were controlled through threat (and practice) of violence by his tyrannical teacher. And the training (and control) he received led him to a life of great success. So his perspective isn't inconceivable, considering.

[stopgeorge]

Yes, except he is completely ignorant (or chooses to be ignorant) of other successes around him that embrace democratic ideals in asian culture.

[Virginia Wai]

Ok, our upbringing may affect our outlook in life but it should not stop us from considering if it was the only way.
I was brought up by a mother who will be jailed in any western society for the way she brought up her children but it does not mean me or my sibling should continue with her tradition.

[jayes]

before long, if there's a strong enough chinese middle class, they'll take their liberty anyway without worrying about what any movie star has to say about it.

[Shrinath]

Chan pandering to the apparatchiks in Beijing. Earlier, in the program Talk Asia by CNN International, Jet Li had said that Tibet cannot ask for independence and that China and Tibet are integral. So, both these actors, who cannot understand the phrase, "Live free or die", have just lost their sheen in my eyes.