Jackie Chan Anti-Americanism? Actor Calls U.S. 'Most Corrupt Country in the World' Sparks Outrage [VIDEO]
Actor Jackie Chan called the United States "the most corrupt country in the world" in a talk show interview that aired on Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV.
The actor's comments sparked criticism in China's micro-blogosphere and an American blogger for the Washington Post, Mark Fisher, blasted Chan calling his remarks "anti-American."
Near the end of the show the host talked about Chan's nationalistic image against growing discontent with the country on Chinese Internet, to what he replied:
"The New China...The real success has been made in the past dozen of years. Our country's president also admits they have the corruption problem, and some other stuff, but we are making progress. What I can see is our country is continuously making progress and learning," he said.
"If you talk about corruption, the entire world, the United States, has no corruption?...The most corrupt in the world," Chan reportedly told the TV station in December, according to an English translation posted by Ministry of Tofu.
"Of course. Where does this Great Breakdown [financial crisis] come from? It started exactly from the world, the United States," Chan continued, according to the translation.
Chan was promoting his latest film on the show and recounted his personal anecdotes in film making.
"Chan's comments, though widely disparaged on Chinese social media, do reflect a certain strain of anti-Americanism that is particular to some elements of China," wrote Fisher, the Washington Post's Foreign Affairs blooger.
Readers online called Chan "hypocritical," "ungrateful" and a "typical kooky," among other adjectives.
This is not the first time that the martial arts Hollywood star, who endorses the Chinese Communist Party, has made controversial political remarks. In 2009 he said Chinese people needed to be "controlled."
"I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled," Chan told a gathering of top Chinese officials and business leaders in April 2009. "If we are not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."
His comments sparked outrage in Chinese communities in Asia, mostly in Hong Kong and Taiwan and online.
