Jet Li says China, Tibet should be unified
Dec 13, 2007 | Categorized Under: Tibet | | CommentsJet Li has started to generate controversy in recent few days. The 44-year-old action star has said at a taping of an interview for CNN’s “Talk Asia” in Hong Kong late Wednesday that Taiwan and China should be unified. In addition to that Jet Li, a prominent follower of Tibetan Buddhism, says he has met with the Dalai Lama and respects his teachings but believes that Tibet and China are part of one country.
This news story has been provided by the Associate Press (AP), the primary news provider for online news websites. This news has been published all over the internet. Here the story continues:
“From the religious point of view, he’s the master,” Li said of the Dalai Lama, adding that when he met him in 2000 he told the spiritual leader that he backed having the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. China was bidding for the Olympics at the time and there was some opposition to the bid.
“They (the Chinese) just want to show a wonderful party, the Olympics, to the world,” he said. “Lots of famous guys … they are my (spiritual) teachers. But it doesn’t mean I agree with their politics,” Li said without specifically naming anyone.
He said he believes China, Tibet, as well as the self-ruled island Taiwan, should be “unified together.” Li, a major star in his native China, said he hasn’t run into trouble with the Chinese government for his meeting with the Dalai Lama. Li says on his official Web site that Tibetan Buddhism, “has inspired me and accelerated my understanding of life.”
—So some people claim that AP has taken the whole story out of a context and we should wait until the whole CNN’s interview of Jet Li video gets released. The interview was done in English language and is said to be nearly 1 hour long in a big theater in Hong Kong in font 50 audience members presence. The video is supposed to be out in December 22nd.
—Here is the response to this news story by Students For A Free Tibet organization.
