
The soccer star's joke about China's founding father leads to terminated sponsorship deals and boycotts in China.
AI-generated summary
China has a history of boycotting international actors who speak out on sensitive political topics. The phrase 'hurting the feelings of the Chinese people' is often used by the regime as official criticism.
It was in a light-hearted interview on the French talk show "The Bridge" that Mbappé told about the funniest meme on the internet that he knows. It's one where his face, in Mbappé's words, replaces "some guy - I think he's a Chinese dictator".
The "guy" and "dictator" that Mbappé is referring to is Mao Zedong. The founder of the People's Republic of China who died in 1976 and led the country during a chaotic period in which millions died of starvation.
After the death of Mao Zedong, China ushered in a new era and opened up the economy to the outside world. But joking and speaking ill of Mao Zedong is still taboo.
Now Mbappé sits smoldering. His statement has sparked a wave of angry comments on Chinese social media. And it will sting Mbappé's wallet. The Frenchman is a popular footballer in China who graces many advertising columns. But now the companies are tearing up their contracts with him. Sports drink company Dongpeng, whose bottles are emblazoned with the Frenchman's face, no longer wants to do anything with him.
"Our company is strictly against and has zero tolerance for behavior that offends the feelings of the nation," the company writes in a statement.
China's largest milk producer Mengniu reasons in the same way and ends the collaboration with the football player. According to the company, Mbappé has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
Mbappé also receives a planing from the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with resistance in all parts of Chinese society," commented spokesperson Lin Jian.
That someone "hurts the feelings of the Chinese people" is a typical way for the Chinese regime to express itself when outsiders, in their view, have offended the country and its leaders. And China, through its large economic market, can scare players into playing by its rules.
Those who want to stay and make money in China know that they should not speak out in a way that goes against the Chinese Communist Party on sensitive issues such as Taiwan, which China considers to be its territory, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the Tiananmen Square massacre. When former Houston Rockets athletic director Daryl Morey came out in support of the protests in Hong Kong in 2019, it hurt the entire American basketball league NBA's presence in China. Sponsorship agreements were broken and the state television, CCTV, stopped broadcasting matches from the league for a year. Now it is the Spanish La Liga, where Mbappé plays, that will be punished. CCTV will stop showing matches from there, according to Chinese newspaper The Paper.
For Mbappé, the torn contracts in China are the second setback in a short time. On Monday, he missed out on the most prestigious award in football, the Ballon d'Or, which went to Britain's Harry Kane.
The reaction in China seems, as so many times in the past when it comes to money, to have had an effect. After the criticism and the companies' boycott, Mbappé issued an apology.
He explains that he was reckless and that he understands that he has hurt many people in China and Chinese people around the world.
- I apologize to everyone who has been upset by my words. That was absolutely not my intention. I have great respect for the Chinese people and their history. I am sincerely sorry, writes Mbappé.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
CCTV stops broadcasting La Liga matches.
Very likely · Within weeks

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