Jackie Chan has been criticised for suggesting China should shun democracy and "be controlled".

Speaking at a business forum in the southern Chinese province of Hainan, he said: "I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not. I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want.'

He went on to say that freedoms in Hong Kong and Taiwan made those societies "chaotic".

While his comments drew applause from the predominately Chinese audience of business leaders, lawmakers in his native Hong Kong and Taiwan considered them an insult.

Hong Kong pro-democracy legislator Leung Kwok-hung said: "He's insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren't pets. Chinese society needs a democratic system to protect human rights and rule of law."

Another lawmaker, Albert Ho, called the comments ' racist,' adding: " People around the world are running their own countries. Why can't Chinese do the same?"

Former British colony Hong Kong enjoys Western-style civil liberties and some democratic elections under Chinese rule. Taiwan is democratically self-ruled, and split from mainland China during a civil war in 1949.

Chan's comments were reported by news outlets in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but were ignored by the mainland Chinese press.

Although he was a fierce critic of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 1989, which killed hundreds, he has not publicly criticised China's government in recent years and is immensely popular on the mainland.

He performed during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and took part in the Olympic torch relay.

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