WWE Icon John Cena has apologized over an apparently controversial take on world politics. The apology comes after he called Taiwan a nation.
CENA APOLOGIZED FOR CALLING TAIWAN A NATION
In a promotional video for the ninth instalment of the Fast & Furious film franchise, known as “F9”, the record-tying 16 times World Champion called Taiwan a country, leading to extensive backlash in China.
In 1949, the Republic of China Government lost power to Chinese Communist Party, who would later form the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China Government retreated to Taiwan, and created a government body. Both People’s Republic of China and Republic of China considers the entire Chinese landmass, i.e, China and Taiwan, as under their jurisdiction. However, RoC effectively controls Taiwan and a few neighbouring islands, and PRC effectively controls the entirety of mainland China and a number of islands. The validity of RoC is not accepted by PRC and vice versa.
Taiwan is formally accepted only by a handful of nations, but has informal business ties with most nations in the world, including the US.
Thus, the Fast & Furious actor’s words created controversies. China is, of course, an important market for the movie, and Cena has promptly apologized his statement. The actor, who has learned a bit of Mandarin, spoke so in the language. He said sorry several times, and reiterated his love and respect for the Chinese populace.
On the popular Chinese social media application Weibo, he stated: “I made one mistake, I must say right now, very important, I love and respect Chinese people. I am very sorry for my mistake. I am so sorry, I apologise.”
CENA HAS NOT BEEN SEEN IN WWE FOR QUITE SOME TIME, BUT A RETURN SEEMS IMMINENT
Cena has not be seen in the WWE fold since WrestleMania 36. However, reports suggest that he is supposed to return but the dates are still subject to discussion and are at this point, unconfirmed. WWE is apparently trying to have him as a part of the July 16th SmackDown Live from Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, which will be the first WWE show since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, with an exception for Night 1 and Night 2 of WrestleMania 37, to have a ticketed audience. The event marks WWE’s return to the road, and they want one of their biggest stars to be a part of the event.
