Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday that action star Jackie Chan's (成龍) tenure as ambassador for the Deaflympics ended last year and urged the public not to politicize sports, amid a furor over the celebrity's anti-democratic remarks.
Chan's position as an ambassador for September's Deaflympics, which will be the biggest sports event ever hosted by Taipei, sparked controversy after he described freedom in Taiwan as “chaotic” during a panel discussion at the annual Boao Forum in Hainan, China, last week.
“Each of the ambassadors we invited has a different mission and Jackie Chan's work was done last year ... The Deaflympics is an international sports event, and we don't want the event to become politicized,” Hau said at Taipei City Hall.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
Hau's remarks came as Chan's spokesman said the star's comments had been taken out of context.
Solon So (蘇志游), the chief executive of Chan's company JC Group and his main spokesman, told reporters in a telephone interview yesterday that the actor was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry and not Chinese society at large.
“Some people with ulterior motives deliberately misinterpreted what he was saying,” So said.
The comments came as Facebook users and Chinese academics condemned the veteran actor on the Internet in a spreading backlash.
A group of Chinese academics published a letter online on Monday accusing Chan of “not understanding how precious freedom is,” even though “free Hong Kong provided the conditions for you to become an international action star.”
A Facebook group set up by Hong Kong users calling for Chan to be exiled to North Korea had drawn more than 2,600 members by yesterday afternoon.
The group also posted form letters urging Hong Kong's Baptist University and Academy for Performing Arts to strip Chan of honorary degrees they had given the actor.
Emile Sheng (盛治仁), chairman of the Taipei Deaflympics Organizing Committee, said Chan was only one of more than 10 ambassadors the city government has invited to promote the event.
Chan came to Taiwan in September to participate in one of the promotional activities and shot — for free — a TV advertisement for the sports event, Sheng said.
Other ambassadors, including singer A-Mei (張惠妹) and actress Lin Ching-hsia (林青霞), had also promoted the event for the city government on different occasions, he said.
Asked whether Chan would be invited to the opening ceremony, Hau said the city government would not invite him to join the ceremony, but would not refuse if the actor wanted to attend.
“We are inviting athletes, important figures in the sports field and foreign guests, but we won't say no to those who want to come,” he said.
Sheng said the organizing committee had invited six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen to promote the Deaflympics this weekend and would continue to invite other well-known athletes and celebrities to serve as ambassadors.
Pippen, a former Chicago Bulls forward, will arrive in Taipei on Friday and participate in several basketball games with local players to promote the Deaflympics, Sheng said.
Taipei won the bid to host this year's event in 2003. Over 11 days, around 4,000 athletes from 81 countries will compete in events including track and field, badminton, basketball and bowling, the committee said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AP
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS