By Didi Kirsten Tatlow and John Feng
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China Decoded is Newsweek’s in-depth newsletter about China’s growing influence on the world. It goes beyond the headlines to examine how Beijing thinks, how its policies travel beyond China’s borders, and what they mean for the United States and its allies. Readers can sign up for China Decoded here to receive each edition directly in their inbox.
The newsletter is written by journalists with deep experience covering China. Didi Kirsten Tatlow, Senior Correspondent for International Affairs and Investigations, has reported extensively on Chinese politics, influence and security. John Feng, China Editor, is based in Taiwan and covers China’s domestic politics, foreign policy and the strategic competition between Beijing and Washington.
Below, for Newsweek Members, we are reproducing the latest edition of China Decoded in full:
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Mbappé’s Struggle Session
It is funny, in a way, when China’s Maoist—or Leninist—“glass hearts” (bolixin; 玻璃心) turn their sensitive fury on a target.
Except there’s an iron-clad political reality behind it, as well as another metal, money. And the currency lost everywhere is free speech.
This week the shards of a CCP “hurt feelings” campaign metaphorically hit the French soccer player Kylian Mbappé.
Back in April, Mbappé had said in an interview that he found a meme of his face superimposed on the body of a “Chinese dictator” funny. A brilliant player, Mbappé is known to have a strong personality and to wield influence among his teammates.
The jokes and memes have grown for years. Watch this for a minute-long video with examples, if it hasn’t been taken down. Following Chinese threats, multiple YouTube and news sites have deleted the material.
Mbappé has a sense of humor even if dictators famously don’t, as they fear ridicule. In terms of humor the result was Mbappé 1 : CCP 0.
But the Maoist “glass hearts,” meaning those whose hearts are as fragile as glass and are easily hurt by what others say or who pretend that they are, as the phrase goes in China, launched their own attack. Off pitch.
Chinese sponsors threatened to drop him. State TV said they would stop showing Spanish soccer league games. State-run media, and supposedly independent social media influencers, including on X which is banned in China but to which some Chinese mysteriously have access if they amplify CCP talking points and rebut Western criticisms for example over human rights issues, or this situation, made the usual accusations about morals, manners and hurt feelings.
Things like, Mbappé had “lost the trust” of Chinese fans and the Chinese market. That he should show “cultural sensitivities” and “basic respect.” The echo chamber widened until the metaphorical sound of glass shattering was heard around the world.
The same language appeared across state media and X and other social media accounts, indicating coordination. Ironically, inside China the actual “insult” was largely censored because it couldn’t be repeated, leaving a lot of people baffled about what was going on but reacting to the propagandistic echo chamber.
Mbappé apologized. So did his team Real Madrid, and La Liga. To avoid losing lucrative deals.
At least on the surface, the score currently stands at Mbappé, humor, free speech 0 : CCP 1.
Why this has blown up now, half a year later, is anybody’s guess. Perhaps the censors missed it back then. Perhaps the memes crossed a certain threshold of popularity in China thus triggering the political reaction to protect Mao’s reputation. Or somebody just thought it was time to take European footballers down a peg or two.
Soccer is kind of sensitive in China. CCP leader Xi Jinping says he loves it, but China can’t get it together with the beautiful game. In early October it lost 5–0 to Palestine and 1-0 to Tajikistan, at home in Chongqing.
There have been many other targets over the years, as John shows below. The goal is always to protect CCP power, but the leverage is money. That makes what seem like regular business deals with China a risky business. This kind of politicized attack is a deeply embedded aspect of CCP culture.
More memes have popped up on the internet that capture what is a febrile political atmosphere that can flare within seconds.
They show Mbappé being subjected to the CCP tradition of political “struggle” (pidou; 批斗). Here’s one where he’s surrounded by angry CCP members waving Mao’s ideology-stuffed Little Red Book:
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In this one the sign around his neck reads: “Counterrevolutionary element Mbappé”:
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This one shows him as Mao after death, being watched mournfully by other footballers:
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The one is real and shows Mao, who was embalmed and whose body still lies in the heart of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, being mourned by other CCP leaders:
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Judging by the online reactions, the off-pitch attack didn’t help China’s image. As yapplecider put it on Reddit: “Always good to be reminded how bad it would be if China ever become the sole power centre in the world.”
And shockya10 said: “pathetic. Should'nt have even apologized. the chinese fans would have watched the games thru VPN or bought merc thru intl shipping anyway.”
Didi Kirsten Tatlow is Senior Correspondent, International Affairs/Investigations at Newsweek. She is based in Berlin, Germany. You can get in touch by email here.
The Data Story
What happened to French soccer star Kylian Mbappé this week has happened to many in the West, including some of the world’s biggest companies. Most had no idea what they had done; all were likely surprised by the force of the Chinese state’s response.
Kirsten has already detailed what Mbappé said about Mao Zedong, communist China’s revered late leader, as well as Beijing’s response. The reaction of the athlete’s Chinese brand partners stood out to me, not as one of having been offended, but of taking necessary offense on behalf of the Communist Party, whose sensitivities decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of Chinese firms each day.
We’ve looked at China’s ideological taboos before: what punishments await those adjudged to have defamed the country’s sacred heroes and martyrs, and why the CCP must always protect its history at all costs.
Mbappé’s comments were originally made during an interview in April but went viral in China this week thanks to two significant events.
On Sunday, he scored the winning goal for his club side, Real Madrid, against Spanish league rivals Barcelona in a high-profile game broadcast globally, including in China.
Then on Monday evening in London, Mbappé was runner-up at the annual Ballon d'Or ceremony to decide the world’s best player of the previous season.
Mbappé’s apology for comments that had “hurt many people in China” was accompanied by similar statements by the top division of Spanish soccer, La Liga, and by Real Madrid. Those among you who have followed the nexus between China and major brands will know the rest of the story well.
Nearly a third of La Liga’s income in the 2024-2025 season—over $1.7 billion—was generated by the sale of broadcasting rights, according to its latest financial report. Nearly half of that came from international markets, the biggest of which were China and the United States.
The Spanish newspaper El Mundo estimated this week that up to 15 percent of Real Madrid’s international merchandising revenue comes from China, where Mbappé's No. 9 shirt is the club's top-selling item.
In the last decade, the reality check that is the size of the Chinese market has hit celebrities like former pro wrestler John Cena and companies like H&M and the Marriot hotel group. All said sorry for offending China over Beijing-defined political incorrectness.
The Chinese government said it noted Mbappé's apology, but its state media group has yet to reverse its suspension of La Liga broadcasts. It has a few days to let the Spanish league stew—the next match isn’t until Friday and Barcelona and Real Madrid don’t play until the weekend.
Beijing will feel its outburst is justified; after all, it’s Chinese money that the league wants.
So Mbappe’s mistake, if there was one, was not an intent to offend China or an ignorance of Mao’s status there, but of a failure to grasp just how much of his and his employer’s financial interests were tied up in the party-state.
John Feng is Newsweek's China Editor based in Taichung, Taiwan. You can get in touch with John by email here.
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