Name: John Cena “Angers China” by Calling Taiwan a Country
Uploaded: 2021-05-31T14:44:05.000Z
Duration: 12 min 25 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

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Professional Wrestler and Actor John Cena Accidentally called Taiwan a country.

Is this the end of his career in mainland China?

Did you know American World Wrestling Entertainment star John Cena speaks Mandarin Chinese?

You want the Chinese version, I'll give you that too.

Like a lot of people who want to get a foothold in the China market, John Cena began learning

Here he is in 2016 introducing WWE in Mainland China.

Please allow me to tell you a little about WWE.

The WWE marketspace in China wasn't big in the past.

But the problem with pandering to the China market is...sometimes you have to pander to

And that can get complicated when part of the China market is Taiwan.

On May 8, John Cena did a promotional interview on Taiwanese television to promote the upcoming

film “Fast & Furious 9” —and its world premier in Taiwan.

“Taiwan will be the first country to see 'Fast & Furious 9.'”

There's going to be a Fast & Furious NINE?!

How many of these freaking movies are they going to make?!

Also shocking: John Cena just called Taiwan a country.

“Taiwan will be the first country...”

And now John Cena is being canceled in mainland China.

Because inadvertently referring to Taiwan as a country instead of a region one time

in a language he's just learning to speak...is enough to spark outrage among mainland China's

You're the ones writing angry comments below this video right now.

But before you do, let me just say one thing: Taiwan...is...a...country.

It has its own independent, democratic government.

It was never part of the People's Republic of China.

Now you can finish writing those angry comments.

But unlike me, John Cena still has dreams of being in the China market.

And that's why instead of defending his comments, he apologized.

Hello China, this is John Cena, I have something I must say.

During the promotion of Fast & Furious 9 I've done tons and tons of interviews, but made

I need to say now, it's very very very very very important how much I love and respect

John Cena is not afraid to take on Vin Diesel man to man... but he sure wusses out when

Speaking of Vin Diesel, my favoring Chinese state-run media, The Global Times, contrasted

the two men, saying “Vin Diesel said he was grateful to Chinese mainland audiences

for supporting the Fast and Furious series, which led him to do something unprecedented:

He asked the film company to release Fast & Furious 9 in the Chinese mainland first,

“Hello my brothers and sisters in China.

So, now Fast & Furious 9 opens in mainland China first, instead of Taiwan.

Although technically, that's because Taiwan closed theaters due to a recent spike in Covid-19—a

plague that came from mainland China...like political correctness.

Speaking of the plague of political correctness, this brouhaha over John Cena's comments

are part of a long-standing problem for anyone who wants to do business in the China market.

It's one of the strongest tactics used by Chinese state-run media to manipulate public

opinion or put pressure on brands and businesses.

Back in 2016, Tzuyu, a Taiwanese member of the famous K-pop group Twice, was seen waving

And then her agency, JYP Entertainment, allegedly coerced her into publishing an apology video.

The two sides of the strait are one body.

I have always identified as a Chinese person, and a proud one at that.

Interestingly enough, that controversy happened right before Taiwan's 2016 elections.

The forced apology video didn't really help cross-strait relations.

“Taiwan election analysts have said the issue may have contributed as much as 1 to

2 percent of the electorate's vote to Ms Tsai, whose DPP traditionally backs independence

Taiwanese actress Vivian Sung issued an apology after being caught calling Taiwan her 'Favorite

Zara apologized for simply listing Taiwan as a country on its website.

More recently in 2020, “two virtual Japanese YouTube hosts were suspended... from live-streaming

for three weeks” by their talent agency.

“The suspension came after the pair included Taiwan on a list of countries that had contributed

the most to their subscribers, and displayed [Taiwan's] national flag.”

So even virtual, animated people can be cancelled for calling Taiwan a country.

A South Korean variety TV show was also boycotted by Chinese viewers for showing a Taiwanese

flag on a game board, posted next to a Chinese PRC flag.

Apologizing to China has almost become the norm over the years for everyone in the entertainment

Very few people can stand up to that kind of pressure.

But the trick is...I'm not very entertaining.

But what actual market impact have John Cena's comments had?

The public outrage over John Cena calling Taiwan a country shows just how much the China

market can be manipulated to punish foreigners.