(TibetanReview.net, Oct28’26) – China said Oct 28 that it took seriously an apology from the French Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappé in the aftermath of his off-the-cuff “Chinese Dictator” remark. Seen as obviously referring to Chairman Mao, the light-hearted remark provoked severe backlash from China, including its official media which ran lengthy criticisms and condemnations of him, while major Chinese brands dropped him. China’s state television suspended broadcasts of matches from Spain’s La Liga, the top-tier professional men’s association football division of the Spanish football league system.
The point was not whether or not Mao was a dictator, for no one, not even the Chinese themselves, dared to deny it. They just did not like the ugly truth being uttered or reported in public. And the backlash against Mbappé was truly massive.
Mocking the founding father of Communist China, blamed by historians for tens of millions of deaths, is taboo in China. Mao ranks among the giants of mass killers in world history and only a dictator could have accomplish that.
China’s quick acceptance of Mbappé’s apology may be meant to prevent further public discussion of the backlash and with it wider scrutiny of Mao’s indefensible mass-killing record.
“My comment was ill-judged and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world. I apologise to everyone my words have upset,” the French national football captain has said in a statement in French, Chinese and English on Oct 27.
Following it, China’s Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular briefing on Oct 28: “We take seriously the apology the individual concerned has made.”
Also, La Liga said it “deeply regrets the offence that Kylian Mbappé’s recent comments have caused among Chinese fans”.
This followed a decision by China’s overseas public broadcaster CCTV to suspend broadcasts of the world’s second-richest football league – after England’s Premier League – as a reprisal against Mbappé.
Also, Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu froze Mbappé’s account, where he has more than a million followers, noted the AFP Oct 28.
The report said the same was done on the Weibo app, with a notice stating that “the user has been banned from following due to violating laws or the Weibo Community Convention”.
AFP cited some Chinese media reports as saying global brands like Dior and Hublot had removed their Mbappé-related content on Weibo. Besides, Mbappé merchandise, including unofficial jerseys, beanies and caps, became available on retail app Taobao.
The offending video, which raised a brouhaha in China, showed Mbappé telling the French talk show The Bridge that the funniest internet meme he had seen involving him was of his face photo-shopped onto that of “some guy – I think he’s a Chinese dictator.”
This was an apparent reference to a meme of Mbappé superimposed on an image of Mao.
The meme was part of a running joke about the Real Madrid forward being called a “dictator” because of his huge influence in football, noted bbc.com Oct 27.
A few people came out in support of him on Chinese social media, but that is a rare response given China’s tightly controlled internet, where people are expected to toe the party and government line on sensitive topics, the report noted.