Learn English with the News | | John Cena Sparks Controversy in China Referring to Taiwan as a Country

John Cena, Hollywood superstar and… international diplomate? Maybe not yet! After recent remarks referring to Taiwan as a country, he has received massive criticism from one of the biggest film markets in the world, China. Fortunately for future ticket sales, he has apologized. Watch the video and then do the accompanying English language exercises !!

The news is a consistent source of entertainment, knowledge and discovery that never ceases to exist and always comes out with more and more material each day. Because it plays such a vital part in our lives and is so important to keep up with, it is without a doubt a piece of your everyday routine that can’t go ignored.

Whether it is to understand the ramifications of recent legislation passed, to hear about recent events and grasp the potential consequences to your country, or simply hear about what is happening in other countries in order to compare them to what’s happening in yours, the news is certainly a staple in our lives and the most consistent way to get information.

This is why Scrambled Eggs has decided to unite two of your biggest worlds: learning English and keeping up with what is happening in the world. We hope our challenging daily exercises, composed of listening, vocabulary and comprehension exercises in English, will satisfy both of those above worlds in a satisfactory and also entertaining way.

So enough about introductions, let’s get to today’s Learn English with the News topic:

Adapted from this article.

Full Text:

“John Cena, the star of “F9,” professed his love for China after calling Taiwan a “country” during an interview. This action generated a backlash among fans in Hollywood’s most important international market.
The controversy unfolded after Cena gave an interview to a Taiwanese broadcaster promoting the film.
China claims Taiwan as its sovereign territory despite Taiwan being a self-governed democratic island. The two sides have been ruled separately since the end of the civil war over 70 years ago. According to China, Beijing specifically, any suggestion of Taiwan’s independence crosses its “red line.” China has increasingly been trying to use its economic power to police speech on the topic around the world.
Cena then offered an apology. Speaking in Mandarin, he did not refer to Taiwan by name or discuss the incident in detail, but he did say that it was a mistake.
Some critics are still angry about his remarks, and accused him of not going far enough in the apology.
Beijing often polices the way global brands talk about China or any of its political interests. In 2018, for example, the Chinese government demanded that several airline companies in the United States change the way they referred to Taiwan. Refusal to do so would risk sanctions for their companies in China, one of the world’s biggest markets for air travel. Also that year, hotel group Marriott’s website and app were blocked for a week after it listed Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as separate “countries” in its emails and app.
While the controversy around Cena’s comment is likely to fade soon, Beijing’s attempt to control free speech around the world is unlikely to stop.”