Taiwanese flag spotted in theatrical release of Top Gun: Maverick, angering China

The worldwide release of Top Gun: Maverick appeared to have restored Taiwanese and Japanese flags that were censored from star Tom Cruise’s leather jacket in the original trailer.

The first trailer for the sequel to the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun included a scene that showed the back of a bomber jacket worn by Cruise’s character, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, with a large patch meant to commemorate the USS Galveston’s tour of duty with the Navy’s 7th Fleet off Japan, Taiwan and Okinawa from 1962 to 1984.

But in the trailer, the flags of Japan and Taiwan on the patch are replaced with “nonsensical symbols,” says Taiwan News.

This was interpreted as a move to appease censors in China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, not a sovereign country. Hollywood has bent over backwards for access to the lucrative Chinese entertainment market.

The theatrical release of Cruise’s new film has restored the Taiwanese and Japanese flags. The original version of the naval patch is clearly visible in the movie’s opening credits when Maverick puts on the leather jacket at his old locker.

Taiwanese audiences were thrilled for a small, symbolic victory over Beijing. Chinese netizens were not as pleased.

"You won't make money off of us by showing it, we can just watch pirated copies,” wrote one user, reports Taiwan News.

"Brother Tom, the Chinese market won't have anything to do with you in the future,” said another.

Other netizens defended the patch as historically accurate.

"The Republic of China did in fact exist in the past, and it exists now, so what's the sensitivity?” responded one user.

Nationalism is a key part of Chinese internal propaganda, the expression of which is fostered by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. In January, Chinese netizens called for a boycott of Keanu Reeves, who is part Chinese, and his film “The Matrix Resurrections” over his participation in a benefit concert for Tibet.