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SLAMMED FOR 'SON PREFERENCE': Taiwanese actor Mike He has apologised after being slammed by Chinese netizens for suggesting that he might not want another child if the baby is not a boy.
He, 37, who has two daughters, had talked about the possibility of having a third child during an interview with Taiwan's NowNews channel in November last year.
The interview, for reasons unknown, trended on the Chinese Internet over the weekend.
In the interview, He was asked if he planned to have a third child after his wife, who is not from the entertainment industry, gave birth to their second daughter in August last year.
The couple's elder daughter is four this year.
He replied that should they have a third child, they hoped to do so in the next one or two years as his wife is the same age as him.
He said he preferred that the age gap between the third child and his daughters not be too big so that it would be easier to take care of the child.
Although he said that what is important is that his third child is healthy, he also expressed hope that the child would be male. He said that a child's gender can be determined in the seventh or eighth week of the mother's pregnancy and hinted that he might not want the child if it is a girl again.
The actor, who rose to fame in the idol drama Devil Beside You (2005), was slammed by Chinese netizens after the interview trended on the Chinese Internet.
They questioned if he was thinking of aborting the baby if it is not a boy, with others even ridiculing him by asking if he is a king looking to pass his throne to a son.
He responded by posting an apology on Chinese social media platform Weibo on Sunday. He wrote: "I'm grateful to my wife for giving birth to two daughters... my wife and I really hope to have both sons and daughters, with the two girls also hoping to have a younger brother. It will be good if it is a boy, but boys and girls are definitely equal.
"I love my family and my two daughters, and am spending most of my time now accompanying them in their growing-up years. I apologise again for my inappropriate comments."
This was not the first time He has been criticised for his comments on children. In September last year, he was slammed after he disclosed that his wife went for a caesarean section for the birth of their second daughter as he considered people born under the Virgo sign to be picky and did not want his child to be born under the sign.