John Cena has apologised to China in Mandarin after calling Taiwan a country in a Fast and Furious 9 interview.
The actor, who has joined the franchise as Jakob Toretto, came under fire after saying Taiwan would be the first ‘country’ able to watch the film.
Former WWE star John apologised for his ‘mistake’ in a recent clip on Chinese social media network Weibo and said (according to South China Morning Post): ‘Hi China, I’m John Cena. I’m in the middle of Fast and Furious 9 promotions. I’m doing a lot of interviews.
‘I made a mistake in one of my interviews. Everyone was asking me if I could use Chinese – [movie] staff gave me a lot of information, so there was a lot of interviews and information.’
‘I made one mistake. I have to say something very, very, very important now. I love and respect China and Chinese people,’ the 44-year-old continued.
‘I’m very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologise, I apologise, I’m very sorry. You must understand that I really love, really respect China and the Chinese people. My apologies. See you.’
John Cena has joined the Fast and Furious franchise (Picture: Twitter/@JohnCena)
Taiwan, sometimes known as the Republic of China, is an island separated from mainland China (or the People’s Republic of China) by the Taiwan Strait.
The political status of Taiwan is controversial as there is some ambiguity as to whether it should be considered part of China, or if it should be its own territory, as a self-governing entity.
China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, despite Taiwan having been independent for all practical purposes since 1950.