Actor and WWE star John Cena is facing swift backlash after posting a minute-long video apologizing to China for calling Taiwan a “country.”
“Hi China,” he said, speaking in Madarin. “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.”
“I made one mistake,” the celebrity continued. “I have to say something very, very, very important now. I love and respect China and the Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologize. I apologize. I’m very sorry. You must understand that I really love, really respect China and the Chinese people. My apologies. See you.”
Communist China does not recognize Taiwan as an autonomous country, and often exerts pressure against the Taiwanese through the military.
Last month, Joseph Wu, the foreign minister of Taiwan, said the island nation will defend itself against attacks from China “to the very last day.”
“We are willing to defend ourselves,” he said. “That’s without any question. We will fight a war if we need to fight a war. And if we need to defend ourselves to the very last day, then we will defend ourselves to the very last day.”
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Cena’s comments come as the world is emerging from the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, which began in Wuhan, China, and potentially in a Chinese lab. The Chinese government has been reticent to take responsibility since the beginning of the pandemic, when the country silenced doctors and journalists who tried to sound the alarm about the fast-spreading virus and later falsely claimed the U.S. military was responsible for introducing the coronavirus in Wuhan.
Furthermore, both the former Trump administration and the current Biden administration agree the Chinese government is guilty of committing genocide against its minority Muslim population.
The country also readily persecutes Christians.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) condemned Cena as “pathetic” for his apology to the communist country.
“Taiwan is a country,” replied conservative talk radio host and author Ben Shapiro. “Hong Kong should be free. If you are unwilling to say these things because it might hurt your bottom line, you are a pathetic coward.”
Tim Pool, an independent journalist and YouTube personality, accused Cena of “support[ing] genocide.”
“The willingness of American celebrities and large companies to bend the knee to modern day genocidal Nazis in China the year after China lied about COVID and unleashed it on the world is truly being on the wrong side of history,” argued Clay Travis. “It’s pathetic.”
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