China declared on Wednesday that it took “seriously” the apologies presented by footballer Kylian Mbappé, after his comments about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, which cost him his collaboration with several brands in the country.
The captain of the France team apologized on Tuesday for mentioning former leader Mao Zedong in the podcast “The Bridge”, which has since deleted the video. He declares that the meme about him “where (he) laughed the most” associates him with a man he believes to be “a Chinese dictator”, an apparent reference to montages which place his face on images of Mao Zedong.
“I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history”
“We take seriously the apology presented by the person concerned,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing. “I apologize to all those who were offended by my words. That was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry,” Kylian Mbappé declared Tuesday in a press release broadcast in French, English and Mandarin. La Liga also apologized, Real Madrid has not commented at this stage.
Mao Zedong is a central figure in Chinese history, always officially described as a hero despite very dark chapters and the millions of deaths with which historians associate his exercise of power. Three major Chinese companies announced on Tuesday that they were terminating their cooperation with the Real Madrid star, and state television suspended broadcasting of Spanish championship matches.
The criticism continued to rain
Kylian Mbappé’s initial statements were not published – or were deleted – on Chinese social networks, which are subject to strict surveillance. State media also omit any reference to Mao Zedong, reporting that the footballer made “inappropriate comments regarding China”. Criticism still continued to rain down on Chinese platforms on Wednesday, including racist remarks comparing the player to “a chimpanzee with powerful muscles but a simple mind”.
“His words were hurtful to China and the Chinese people, so they cannot be translated,” wrote a user on the social network Weibo. It is now impossible to subscribe to the Real Madrid star’s accounts on the Weibo and Xiaohongshu platforms (also called “RedNote”), on which he has a total of more than two million subscribers.
According to Chinese media, several brands such as Dior and Hublot have deleted content related to the captain of the French team from their Weibo accounts.
