Juno News - May 27, 2021


Taiwan is a country


Episode Stats

Length

3 minutes

Words per Minute

179.63397

Word Count

638

Sentence Count

45

Hate Speech Sentences

1


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Taiwan is a country.
00:00:09.480 Pretty basic phrase I just said there, right?
00:00:11.780 That's kind of like saying, I don't know, orange juice is a beverage,
00:00:15.460 or socks are a garment, a form of attire.
00:00:18.920 Just kind of a basic phrase, right?
00:00:21.020 Taiwan is a country.
00:00:21.880 Certainly not a controversial thing to say,
00:00:24.820 but apparently it is so much so that former WWE wrestling star
00:00:29.980 and American film star John Cena is now apologizing
00:00:33.120 for having said, Taiwan is a country.
00:00:37.180 Yes, that's true.
00:00:37.880 Even though if you plug the phrase Taiwan into Google,
00:00:40.760 the very first result you will get is from Wikipedia,
00:00:43.580 and it reads, Taiwan is a country in East Asia.
00:00:48.100 And it'll show you a map.
00:00:49.240 It'll show you its flag.
00:00:50.240 It has its own flag.
00:00:51.620 It has a president.
00:00:53.000 It has all those things that countries typically have.
00:00:56.040 But John Cena in hot water for appearing,
00:00:57.760 actually on a Taiwanese television station earlier this month
00:01:01.740 and saying that Taiwan would be the latest country,
00:01:05.000 the first country, pardon me,
00:01:06.260 to see the new Fast and Furious movie that he is in.
00:01:10.560 Okay, so he's apologizing for just saying,
00:01:12.840 you're going to be the first country to see this movie.
00:01:14.580 Are other countries angry that for some reason,
00:01:16.500 you know, they want to get Fast and Furious before Taiwan,
00:01:18.740 but Taiwan is getting it first.
00:01:19.720 What on earth is going on here?
00:01:20.700 No, China is very upset because they actually do not believe Taiwan is a country.
00:01:27.580 China believes that Taiwan is a wayward province
00:01:30.340 that is going to be brought back into the fold,
00:01:32.840 that they're going to make it a part of China again,
00:01:34.860 that it's going to be absorbed into mainland China.
00:01:37.520 Now, there's an interesting history, of course, in Southeast Asia
00:01:40.720 and dealing with these various different countries
00:01:42.700 and different claims and so forth,
00:01:44.380 a lot of stuff about islands in the South China Sea and so forth.
00:01:47.260 But Taiwan asserts, no, we're a country.
00:01:50.260 We have our own president.
00:01:51.280 There's our flag and so forth.
00:01:52.360 Look at our Wikipedia page.
00:01:53.460 We are indeed a country.
00:01:55.060 But John Cena apologizing for all of this,
00:01:58.800 almost groveling, actually.
00:02:00.740 What he said was,
00:02:02.300 I made one mistake.
00:02:03.820 I am very, very sorry for this mistake.
00:02:06.880 John Cena said in Mandarin in a video posted on his account on Weibo,
00:02:11.780 which is a Twitter-like social media site in China.
00:02:15.440 What on earth is going on here?
00:02:17.600 John Cena caving to China,
00:02:21.180 probably at the behest of, I don't know,
00:02:24.360 some big business interest in a film studio or what have you.
00:02:27.320 What on earth is going on here?
00:02:29.340 You know, John Cena, when he was a wrestling icon,
00:02:31.760 and for a while he was the biggest hero in the wrestling world.
00:02:34.600 There's heroes and then there's heels.
00:02:36.020 Those are the villains.
00:02:36.700 He was the big hero,
00:02:37.940 and he actually would wave the American flag quite a lot.
00:02:41.280 He'd stand there and obviously a very muscular guy like most wrestlers.
00:02:44.020 He'd wave the American flag.
00:02:45.460 He made a big point of supporting the troops and so forth.
00:02:47.900 All-around great guy, an all-American hero.
00:02:51.160 And here he is, basically caving to China for, I don't know, business pressures.
00:02:57.380 Deeply sorry.
00:02:58.440 Very, very sorry for not towing the line for China on their perspective on foreign affairs.
00:03:06.000 And various diplomats from China, from the Chinese Communist Party,
00:03:10.640 trying to argue on social media and elsewhere,
00:03:12.060 Taiwan is not a country.
00:03:13.120 Taiwan is not a country.
00:03:14.600 Whatever.
00:03:15.320 If you want to believe that Taiwan is a country,
00:03:17.120 which the Taiwanese people themselves and their presidents certainly do,
00:03:20.160 you are welcome to say so,
00:03:21.940 and I would encourage you to say so.
00:03:23.800 But John Cena, apparently,
00:03:26.440 all-American hero, no more.
00:03:29.140 Apologizing for saying,
00:03:31.220 Taiwan is a country.
00:03:32.100 Wow.