TAIPEI: Taiwanese opposition politicians protested Monday against Jackie Chan over controversial comments on democracy but an official said Taiwan will still invite the Hong Kong action movie star to promote a sports event.

In a rally outside city hall in Taipei, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party demanded the municipal government ax Chan as an "ambassador" to the Deaf Olympic Games to be staged here in September.

Over the weekend, Chan drew sharp criticism after he dubbed the free societies of Hong Kong and Taiwan "chaotic."

"I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled," Chan told a business forum in the southern Chinese province of Hainan. "If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

At Monday's protest, DPP city councilor Chuang Rei-hsiung said Chan was "confused about whether it's good to have freedom or not, and we should ask him to think thoroughly about this question first."

Emil Sheng, an official organizing the Deaf Olympics, said he did not agree with Chan's views but would not support a boycott for comments the star made during an event not related directly to the games.

Chan was invited to promote the games because he lost part of his hearing in one ear during the 1980s when shooting a film in Yugoslavia, Sheng said.