Fast & Furious star John Cena apologies to China after saying Taiwan is a country

Cena appeared stony-faced in the apology video. Photo / Twitter

John Cena has found himself in a rather hot political drag race after unintentionally making China angry over Taiwan.

Cena is in the middle of the Fast & Furious 9 whirlwind promotional tour, where he recently landed in Taiwan.

But while talking about the film during a local broadcast, Cena infuriated China after saying that Taiwan is a country.

"Taiwan is the first country that can watch F9," he said during the interview with TVBS.

In a video posted to the Chinese social media app Weibo on Tuesday, the actor and WWE star said sorry in fluent Mandarin.

"I'm very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologise, I apologise, I'm very sorry," he said in the bizarre video.

The remarks sparked an onslaught of criticism from China, which is one of Hollywood's largest international markets.

Though Taiwan is self-governed and democratic, Beijing considers the island to be part of its territory.

n his recorded apology today, Cena insisted that he "made a mistake" before professing his love for China.

"Hi China, I'm John Cena. I'm in the middle of Fast and Furious 9 promotions. I'm doing a lot of interviews. I made a mistake in one of my interviews," he says in the clip.

"I made one mistake. I have to say something very, very, very important now. I love and respect China and Chinese people. I'm very, very sorry about my mistake."

He continued: "I apologise, I apologise, I'm very sorry. You must understand that I really love, really respect China and the Chinese people. My apologies. See you​."

Cena appeared stony-faced in the apology video. Photo / Twitter

Despite Cena's apology, some Chinese citizens were still furious he stopped short of saying Taiwan was a part of China.

"He still didn't say that Taiwan is China. Is it so difficult?," one user wrote under Cena's post.

"I don't understand why the Chinese people should be so tolerant to him, who has a vague political stance while profiting from Chinese people," another wrote.

"Please say 'Taiwan is part of China' in Chinese, otherwise we will not accept," demanded a third commenter.

However, many viewers in the West have reacted differently, labelling the apology "bizarre".

Some even compared the apology to like being in a "hostage video".

Cena isn't the only famous American to have mistakenly referred to Taiwan as a sovereign entity. In December 2016, then-President-elect Donald Trump infamously took a call from the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Tsai Ing-wen.

He then got on social media and thanked "the President of Taiwan" for speaking with him. This angered the People's Republic of China, because it does not recognise Taiwan's Republic of China as a functioning government.