Hong-Kong native and movie star Jackie Chan has described recent mass protests in his home city as “sad and depressing” while pledging support for the Chinese flag in a televised interview.
The 65-year-old martial arts legend told China’s state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday the ongoing unrest was "heartbreaking and worrying for many" and said that he supported a social media campaign to protect the national flag from being “desecrated” by protesters.
The “1.4 billion flag bearer” hashtag began trending on Weibo - widely considered a Chinese-version of Twitter - after protesters in Hong Kong threw a Chinese national flag into the sea.
Five people, including four men and a woman, were arrested this week over the 3 August incident.
“On one hand, I needed to express my most basic patriotism as a Hong Kong and Chinese citizen. I am one of the flag guards,” he said.
“On the other hand, I hoped to express our collective voice through participating in such a campaign.”
Chan also said he feels "pride in being Chinese everywhere I go" and hopes Hong Kong "can return to peace soon".
The 'Five-starred Red Flag' is respected everywhere around the world," he said.
"I also deeply feel that safety, stability, and peace are just like fresh air, you never know how precious it is until you lose it."
But the actor's Beijing loyalist comments and dismissals of the democracy movement have sparked backlash on Twitter, with some Hong Kong users saying they were "heartbroken" by his statement.
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