Mbappé Faces Widespread Backlash in China Over Controversial Comments on Mao

Kylian Mbappé faced intense criticism on Chinese social media despite issuing an apology for his remarks about Mao Zedong, which resulted in losing several commercial contracts in the Chinese market. Jokes or satirical comments about Mao, the founder of the People's Republic of China, remain highly sensitive and socially forbidden topics in the country. Several Chinese brands announced the suspension of their partnerships with the player, and Chinese state television canceled broadcasts of La Liga matches. Mbappé apologized on Tuesday after describing a widely circulated image of himself online as digitally altered onto the picture of "a man, I think a Chinese dictator," referring to Mao. The original joke was not published on heavily censored Chinese social media platforms or was possibly deleted, while official media avoided mentioning Mao's name, only stating that the player made inappropriate remarks about China. Nevertheless, the player continued to face a wave of criticism from Chinese users. One user on the Weibo platform wrote, "His comments were offensive to China and the Chinese people, so they cannot be translated." Similarly, Mbappé's account was frozen on the Xiaohongshu platform, which has over a million followers, preventing him from gaining new followers. A similar measure was taken on Weibo, where a notification appeared stating that following the user was blocked due to violations of laws or community agreements. Reports indicated that global brands such as Dior and Hublot removed content related to Mbappé from their Weibo accounts.