John Cena, World Wrestling Entertainment superstar and current star of the latest Fast and Furious movie, has landed himself in a spot of bother after an errant comment about Taiwan.

Cena was the subject of an article by Chinese state media Global Times, which noted that Cena was promoting the movie while in Taiwan in "early May."

While doing this, Cena referred to Taiwan as a country, saying that it is the first country in the world where people can watch the movie.

China claims the self-ruled island as part of its own territory.

John Cena apologised

After this, he took to Chinese social media site Weibo to post an apology.

Speaking in Mandarin, he said he made a mistake and that, "I must say that now, very importantly, I love and respect China and Chinese people." However, he didn't specifically mention Taiwan.

You can see the video here. Global Times reported that some Chinese netizens welcomed the apology, although others said Cena should have explicitly said what he had gotten wrong.

According to Global Times, the release of the movie in Taiwan has been delayed due to the Covid-19 situation.

It added that franchise star Vin Diesel asked that the movie be released in mainland China first instead, "as a way of thanking mainland fans."

Top image from Weibo and Mehrab Hosen Opi Facebook page.