“Chinese dictator” – Mbappé gets into trouble in China

Two beverage manufacturers in China are ending their collaboration with French soccer star Kylian Mbappé with immediate effect. Both companies said in their statements that they have no tolerance for behavior that hurts the feelings of the Chinese people. However, the companies did not provide any further information about how Mbappé was said to have behaved incorrectly.

A little later, another dairy product manufacturer and the influential social media platform Xiaohongshu, essentially the Chinese Instagram, announced their collaborations with Mbappé. China's state television no longer shows advertisements featuring the footballer.

The striker of the Spanish record champions Real Madrid had advertising partnerships with a sports drinks manufacturer based in Shenzhen in southern China and a company from Inner Mongolia that is well known in China for its dairy products. Among other things, his face is shown on the labels of the drinks bottles. Mbappé has many fans in China and can often be seen in advertising.

Hours after the announcements, the superstar spoke up on the online platform X: “I recently reacted to a photo of myself during an interview,” the written statement said. He said his remark was “tactless” and he now understands that it hurt the people of China. “I apologize to anyone who was upset by my words,” it continued.

Mbappé left it open which picture or interview he was referring to. Chinese media also initially did not explain the company's decision and only referred to statements made in interviews by the 27-year-old. The Chinese sports news portal Dongqiudi said in a statement that it could not translate Mbappé's comments because they hurt China and the Chinese people.

Statements from the football superstar from a podcast interview were previously circulating online. In it he was asked about his favorite meme featuring himself. Memes, for example, are photo montages that spread quickly online. In response, Mbappé shared a meme with a "guy" who he believed was a "Chinese dictator" with his face mounted on it. That’s what makes him laugh the most, said the 2018 world champion.

In fact, there are memes with Mbappé's face circulating online, which were originally based on a picture of the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. Mao enjoys a high reputation in China as the founder of the People's Republic. Critical content about China's political leaders is usually heavily censored online in the People's Republic - and this was also the case in this case.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun stressed that words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people would of course be met with common resistance from all parts of Chinese society.

Spain's football league apologized to fans in China for Mbappé's words. The statements did not represent the league's position, La Liga said on Weibo, China's equivalent of online platform X. Spanish football has always deeply respected China and the Chinese, it said.