The actor told a forum on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, whose attendees included Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, he was not sure "freedom" was necessary.
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"I'm not sure if it is good to have freedom or not," he said. "I'm really confused now. If you are too free, you are like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic." The easy question is, what would the reaction be if a foreigner said this?
It's also interesting that Chan is saying this to appease the mainland government (his latest film was banned on the mainland), who are the descendants of a Communist party whose very raison d'etre was opposed to such a sentiment -- the idea that the Chinese should not control their own destinies.
My friend Paul points out that it's just another wealthy elite wanting the status quo, and he's right there. It's not very surprising.
And what's wrong with Hong Kong and Taiwan anyway? Last I checked they were quite nice.
No, more interesting is this:
He added: "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we are not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."This is not new either, and that's what is interesting about it. I've long felt that the reason the US and China are so antagonistic towards one another these days is because they're so similar.
American society is deeply conformist, yet makes a big deal about how Amazingly Individualistic they are. "We are Individuals! That is why we can't be doing with Big Government."
China has something rather similar. "We are Individuals! That is why we need a Big Government to keep things under control."
The earliest reference in Chinese texts I can recall reading is from a couple of hundred years ago, but I'm sure it goes further back than that. (The idea that the people need to be controlled I could dig up from the
Shiji for you, but in the Han Dynasty you don't get this sentiment that such Amazing Crazy Individualism is a uniquely Chinese trait.)
What neither national story allows room for is the possibility that maybe they're just as individualistic as everyone else.
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