Fast & Furious star John Cena apologises for calling Taiwan a country
NEW YORK (Reuters) - US wrestling superstar and actor John Cena apologised to Chinese fans on Tuesday after calling Taiwan a country during an interview to promote his latest movie "Fast & Furious 9".
Speaking to Taiwanese television TVBS earlier this month, 44-year-old Cena said Taiwan would be the first "country" to see the latest Fast and Furious.
China regards Taiwan as its province, an assertion that most on the self-ruled, democratic island rejects.
"I made one mistake. I am very, very sorry for this mistake," Cena said in Mandarin in a video posted on his account on Weibo, a Twitter-like microblog popular in China.
Cena joins a long list of international celebrities who have incurred the wrath of an increasingly nationalistic Chinese public over their comments about Taiwan, Hong Kong or Xinjiang.
Companies have also come under fire, with several airlines and hotels apologising to China in recent years for listing Taiwan as a country on their booking websites.
Cena's apology was not enough for many mainland Chinese netizens.
Neither did the apology go down well in the United States.
"Can someone please help John Cena locate his spine, please?" wrote Matt Karolian, manager of American news website Boston.com, on Twitter.
US Senator Tom Cotton called the apology "pathetic" in a tweet.
Cotton's remarks were "just like waste paper," he added, speaking at a regular news conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
The movie has been a box office hit in mainland China since its open on May 21.