“The best fights are the ones we avoid,”- Jackie Chan.
AROUND the world, Chinese filmography is more or less associated with the Hong Kong-based actor Jackie Chan- a capable martial arts hero in the clumsy role. But while the democratic world loves Jackie Chan for his spectacular roles, there is a lesser-known side of Jackie Chan too- his real-life role as a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) stooge.
Jackie Chan’s loyalties to the CCP have become a much bigger issue today, as the martial arts hero had let Hong Kong down while Beijing brutally imposed the National Security Law in the former British colony. To the Western world, Jackie Chan maybe an impressive hero, but for Hong Kongers, he is a coward who avoided fighting the CCP when it was expected the most from him.
Jackie Chan remains highly detested in Hong Kong- may be more than even what you can imagine. Chan remains a villain for the pro-democracy protesters. Hong Kong World City, a famous Twitter handle associated with the pro-democracy movement in the former British colony said, “The West lauds Jackie Chan but they don’t understand him.” VICE News has also quoted it as saying, “He (Jackie Chan) isn’t this wholesome mascot that he makes himself out to be.”
Jackie Chan’s ostracization in Hong Kong has reached an all-time high after he supported the draconian National Security Law imposed by the CCP authorities in Hong Kong. The legislation robs Hong Kongers of their freedoms and criminalises all forms of dissent. Several artists opposed the National Security Law, but Chan led a group of artists who said that the draconian law instead would “fill loopholes” in National Security.
In a way, Jackie Chan owed loyalty to Hong Kong and its democratic setup. Jackie Chan’s father, Charles Chan was a State spy. He had taken refuge in Hong Kong to avoid getting captured by the rival Communist faction. Jackie Chan himself said, “My father was spy hiding in Hong Kong and hiding in Australia at the American embassy for so many years.”
Hong Kongers had saved Jackie Chan’s father from rival Communists in mainland China. But Jackie Chan has turned his back on Hong Kong. Therefore, he is called “a two-faced scumbag” and “a deviant traitor” by both Taiwanese and Hong Kong internet users.
Lo Kin-hei, Vice-Chairman, Hong Kong’s Democratic Party tweeted, “What I encountered overseas frequently is when people knew I come from Hong Kong, they come up with Jackie Chan and imitate him! DON’T DO IT ANYMORE. It’s offensive. JACKIE CHAN was once popular, but he has been TRASH for HKes for many yearsssss already.”
Even before the imposition of the draconian National Security Law in Hong Kong, Jackie Chan remained a stooge of the Chinese Communist Party, often making remarks critical of those seeking human rights and freedoms within China. Chan has also remained an ardent supporter of the “One China policy”, and claims that both Hong Kong and Taiwan are internal parts of China.
In 2009, he has said, “I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not. I’m really confused now. If you’re too free, you’re like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic.” He had also said, “I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we’re not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”
Jackie Chan’s love for Chinese censorship had also led to him getting nominated to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory committee to China’s rubber-stamp legislature.
To the outside world, he remains a hero. To many, he is the only an artist from a mysterious country called China that they know about. But Jackie Chan isn’t a hero. He is a pawn in the hands of the CCP being used for Beijing’s battle against the democratic world.
Beyond Hong Kong, Jackie Chan is being indiscriminately used for Beijing’s propaganda war. Therefore, when the Chinese PLA was locking horns with the Indian Army, the Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong had tweeted a video in which Jackie Chan delivered a message of ‘peace’.
Similarly, some Japanese media outlets have suggested that China is leveraging the popularity of its artists. And Jackie Chan, a Hollywood star seems to be leading the pack of such artists.
Hong Kongers have seen the CCP stooge that lies behind Jackie Chan’s persona as a martial arts hero, and therefore they despise him. It’s just about the time that the Western world also come out of its hangover and see Jackie Chan’s real face for themselves.
tfipost.com
