China calls Christian Bale an embarrassment
December 22, 2011
Christian Bale recently visited China to attend the premiere of his latest film, "The Flowers of War," and he managed to cause quite a stir. Bale, accompanied by a CNN news crew, took the opportunity to stop by the village in Shangdong where activist Chen Guangcheng has been imprisoned for the past 15 months, according to Reuters.
The New York Times reports that Bale was trying to get past guards and continued his attempts even after being denied entry. The Chinese government was insulted by Bale's bravado and need to make a spectacle with little regard for the nation's authority.
"If anyone should be embarrassed it's the relevant actor, not the Chinese side," Liu Weimin, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at a press conference, the news source reports. "What I understand is that the actor was invited by the director Zhang Yimou to attend the movie premiere. He was not invited to any village in Shangdong to create news or make a film. If he wants to create news, I don't think that would be welcomed by China."
People can make calls to China with international calling cards to find out the latest about the Bale debacle.