FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2012 file photo, Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan poses for photographers on the red carpet of the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), one of the major K-pop music award ceremonies, in Hong Kong. A Chinese news report quotes action star Chan as suggesting protests in the freewheeling Chinese city of Hong Kong should be restricted. In an interview with the Southern People Weekly published Wednesday, Dec. 12, Chan is quoted as saying that it?s OK to scold China and hold protests. But he adds that there should be regulations on what can and can?t be protested. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2012 file photo, Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan poses for photographers on the red carpet of the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), one of the major K-pop music award ceremonies, in Hong Kong. A Chinese news report quotes action star Chan as suggesting protests in the freewheeling Chinese city of Hong Kong should be restricted. In an interview with the Southern People Weekly published Wednesday, Dec. 12, Chan is quoted as saying that it?s OK to scold China and hold protests. But he adds that there should be regulations on what can and can?t be protested. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
HONG KONG (AP) ? Jackie Chan suggests in a recent interview that protests should be restricted in the freewheeling Chinese city of Hong Kong.
The action star lamented that Hong Kong has become a city of protests, where people "scold China, scold the leaders, scold anything, protest against anything.
"There should be regulations on what can and cannot be protested," Chan told the Southern People Weekly, which published his comments Wednesday. He didn't say what kinds of protests he thought should be restricted.
The star of movies such as "Rush Hour" and "Rumble in the Bronx" triggered a backlash three years ago with similar comments on the need to restrict freedom in his hometown.
A former British colony, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 and is now a semiautonomous region. Residents are fiercely proud of the Western-style civil liberties they enjoy that are not seen on the mainland, including the freedom to demonstrate.
The city has been the scene lately of a rising number of protests by people upset with their Beijing-backed leader, Leung Chun-ying, a lack of full democracy and worries about Beijing's growing influence on the city.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in July to protest after Leung took office.
In 2009, Chan sparked outrage among lawmakers in Hong Kong when said he said, "I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not." He also said he was "beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled."
A representative for Chan did not respond to request for comment.
Southern People Weekly is part of a media group controlled by southern Guangdong province's Communist Party and known for its lively reporting.
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Online:
Southern Weekly article (in Chinese): www.nfpeople.com/News-detail-item-4019.html
Follow Kelvin Chan at Twitter.com/chanman
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