John Cena apologises to China after calling Taiwan a country

John Cena has apologised to China after calling Taiwan a country during a recent interview.

• READ MORE: Fast And Furious 8 – Film review

The actor, who was promoting Fast And Furious 9, said that Taiwan, an island separated from mainland China by the Taiwan Strait, would be the first “country” able to watch the film.

Coming under fire for his comment, Cena has since acknowledged his mistake and apologised in Mandarin. Sharing a clip on Chinese social media network Weibo, Cena said (as per South China Morning Post): “Hi China, 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. Everyone was asking me if I could use Chinese – [movie] staff gave me a lot of information, so there was a lot of interviews and information.”

He continued: “I made one mistake. I have to say something very, very, very important now. I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologise, I apologise, I’m very sorry. You must understand that I really love, really respect China and the Chinese people. My apologies. See you.”

John Cena apologized in Chinese on Sina Weibo after calling Taiwan a country during an interview promoting Fast & Furious 9 pic.twitter.com/dzRKIYgEzL

— Joe Xu (@JoeXu) May 24, 2021

Cena has joined the Fast And Furious franchise as Jakob Toretto, the estranged younger brother of Vin Diesel’s character Dominic Toretto.

The synopsis for F9 reads: “Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto is leading a quiet life off the grid with Letty and his son, little Brian, but they know that danger always lurks just over their peaceful horizon.

“This time, that threat will force Dom to confront the sins of his past if he’s going to save those he loves most. His crew joins together to stop a world-shattering plot led by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they’ve ever encountered: a man who also happens to be Dom’s forsaken brother, Jakob.”

The film also stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron.

Fast And Furious 9 is released in cinemas in the US on June 25 and in the UK on July 8.

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