ACTOR JOHN CENA SAYS SORRY TO FURIOUS CHINESE FANS OVER TAIWAN GAFFE

BEIJING: Professional wrestling and F9 star John Cena has had to make a public apology to millions of Chinese fans after calling Taiwan a country, saying the comment was not appropriate.

Cena described Taiwan as a country in a promotional video for the movie Fast and Furious 9 to a Taiwanese broadcasting channel, triggering a big backlash in China.

China regards Taiwan a breakaway region and has never ruled out reunification by military force. Following the online backlash, Cena posted a video message in Mandarin on his Twitter-like Weibo account in China on Tuesday, apologising for making the comment.

Cena said he was “sorry” for making the mistake without specifically describing what the mistake was.