Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan also runs a production company in China. ((Lo Sai Hung/Associated Press)

Politicians in Hong Kong and Taiwan have blasted action star Jackie Chan's comments to a business forum in southern China wondering whether Chinese people "need to be controlled."

"I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not," Chan told an audience of businesspeople in the Chinese province of Hainan on Saturday.

"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," the star of hits such as Rush Hour and The Forbidden Kingdom stated.

He added that the freedoms in Hong Kong and Taiwan made those societies "chaotic."

The remarks have been condemned by lawmakers in both places.

Failure to grasp 'true meaning of freedom and democracy'

"He's insulted the Chinese people. Chinese people aren't pets," Hong Kong pro-democracy legislator Leung Kwok-hung told The Associated Press.

"Chinese society needs a democratic system to protect human rights and rule of law."

Another Hong Kong politician, Albert Ho, called the remarks "racist."

Taiwanese legislator Huang Wei-che said the movie star has himself "reaped the economic benefits of capitalism [but] has yet to grasp the true meaning of freedom and democracy."

Chan's comments were widely reported in Hong Kong and Taiwanese media but ignored within mainland China.

Solon So, CEO of Chan's company JC Group and his main spokesperson, said the actor did not have any further comments on the issue.

While Chan had previously been an outspoken critic of the Chinese government's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, he has since backed down from any outward antagonism toward the Chinese government.

The 55-year-old star also launched a production company in China in 2007.

Authorities in the mainland have always welcomed him and he performed at the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics last year, while also participating in the torch relay.

This isn't the first time Chan has angered the Taiwanese. Last summer he was greeted by protesters in Taipei over remarks he made in 2004. Chan insinuated that President Chen Shui-Bian staged an election-eve shooting because it gave him sympathy votes over his opponent during the presidential runoff.

"It's the biggest joke in the world," he said of the March 2004 presidential election.