US actress Sharon Stone has issued an apology for remarks she made that the China earthquake disaster could be considered as karma for China's oppressive crackdown in Tibet, Chinese media reported Thursday.
Stone, who was the face of luxury brand Christian Dior in China before being dropped by the French company over the remarks, said she was very sorry for the "inappropriate" remarks in a letter of apology to a newspaper.
The actress said she was sorry for hurting the feelings of the Chinese people and offered her sympathy and condolences to the victims of the quake, while offering to help with the post-quake efforts, reported dpa.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang "noted" the apology. An actress should promote understanding and friendly feelings between countries by her behaviour, he said.
At the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the week, Stone had said she wasn't happy about how the Chinese were treating the Tibetans as nobody should be unkind to anyone else.
"Then I was, like, how do we (the US) deal with the Olympics? Because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine.
"And then this earthquake happened and I began to think, 'Is that karma?' When you are not nice, bad things happen to you."
Karma is the Buddhist (and Hindu) concept that our fates are ruled by our previous actions.
Stone's remarks provoked outrage in China.
Stone pointed out that she had been asked by a Tibetan foundation to help with the post-quake efforts. She said the request had been "a big lesson" that sometimes people had to learn to "be of service, even when people are not nice to you."