Actor Jackie Chan (成龍) caused outrage among Japanese netizens when he was quoted as saying that: “Sometimes, I would like to see some countries hit by great disasters, such as a tsunami or a great earthquake” in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
Chan went on to say that: “In the wake of the disaster, you would see the whole world coming to help that country … if there are no tsunamis, no earthquakes, no one has anything to do, then politics comes into play — I’ll attack you, you’ll attack him — I don’t like to see such things.”
It is not the first time that Chan has sparked controversy, and the mention of tsunamis and earthquakes touched a nerve in Japan.
Photo: CNA
Thousands of netizens have posted comments about the story on Yahoo’s Japanese Web site. Many said they are fans of the actor, but had been upset by his comments, while other vowed to never watch his movies again.
One netizen said Chan was “crazy,” while another said he “has starred in too many action films and hit his head one too many times” and still others said his remarks were intentional, rather than a faux pas.
“Jackie Chan had pretended to be friendly toward Japanese to boost [movie] ticket sales, but is now completely [brainwashed] by the Chinese,” one netizen wrote.
Others said Chan’s past remarks showed he was “the Chinese Communist Party’s lapdog.”
Some netizens called for the destruction of all products featuring the action star, or urged Japanese TV stations to stop airing any advertisements featuring him.
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked