The Hong Kong protests have escalated dramatically since they kicked off back in March 2019 and things are getting dicey. Hundreds of thousands of disgruntled Hong Kongers are holding demonstrations everywhere, the economy is getting shell-shocked, flights are getting canceled and the police are retaliating with excessive force.
Jackie Chan, a Hong Kong native, has now spoken out about the protests and, well, let’s say his comments didn’t go down too well.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Chan said he went to Hong Kong to “express the most basic principles of patriotism as a Hong Kong citizen and a Chinese” and wanted to “represent everyone’s voice.”
“I feel pride in being Chinese wherever I go, and the ‘Five-starred Red Flag’ is respected everywhere around the world.
“I also deeply feel that safety, stability, and peace are just like fresh air, you never know how precious it is until you lose it.”
He then called the protests “sad and depressing” and hoped that peace will come to Hong Kong soon.
While these comments are seemingly positive, they’re the last thing Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters want to hear, especially from a guy like Jackie Chan, and they responded with a barrage of comments labeling him as a traitor and a Chinese lackey.
So why all the hate for the world’s biggest action star?
Well, Chan is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultive Conference and a staunch supporter of the Chinese Communist Party. When he’s not acting as the face of modern Chinese communism, he’s going around preaching how Chinese people need to have their freedom and democratic processes suppressed so he’s not exactly on the side of democracy here.
So when he’s talking about “safety” and “stability” when referring to Hong Kong, it’s less about democracy and more along the lines of “stop dem protests soon because you’re ruining all the safety and stability we got going in communist China RN.”
As a cherry on top of this oppressive, tear gas soaked cake, Chan reportedly feigned ignorance of the protests when he was asked in June, saying how he had only found out the day before and knew nothing.
Hard to believe you didn’t know about the protests that are taking place in your home country, champ.
We shouldn’t be surprised by any of Chan’s comments about the Hong Kong protests, though
It’s been long established that he’s an awful human being and his dodgy politics have been out in the open for ages, so we shouldn’t act too shocked that he’s going around and trumpeting empty rhetorics under the guise of wanting peace.
But in terms of swaying public favour away from the pro-democracy protests and back towards the pro-China side, well Jackie Chan has done his job as China’s mouthpiece perfectly.