Hong Kong (CNN Business) "F9" star John Cena has professed his love for China after calling Taiwan a "country" during an interview that generated a backlash among fans in Hollywood's most important international market. "Taiwan is the first country that can watch F9," Cena told the broadcaster in Mandarin. Taiwan is a self-governed democratic island, but China claims it as its sovereign territory despite the two sides being ruled separately since the end of a civil war over 70 years ago. On Tuesday, Cena offered an apology on Weibo , China's popular Twitter-like social media platform. Speaking again in Mandarin, Cena did not refer to Taiwan by name or discuss the incident in detail, but he did say that he "did a lot of interviews" and "made a mistake."

Source: CNN May 25, 2021 09:56 UTC