China made Mbappé apologise - but many don't know exactly what he said

On Monday night, as Kylian Mbappé was attending the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London, he was also becoming the centre of a huge controversy on Chinese social media.

Football fans had stumbled upon a clip of him joking about the meme that makes him "laugh the most" - where his face is superimposed on a "Chinese dictator" resembling Mao Zedong, who oversaw one of the bloodiest chapters in the country's past.

The controversy spread like wildfire as Chinese brands cut him off one by one and China Media Group, the parent group of state broadcaster CCTV, suspended broadcasts of La Liga matches. A foreign ministry spokesperson said: "Words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with joint opposition from all sectors of Chinese society."

But on the Chinese internet, few were explicitly spelling out those words and actions, or even using the name of Mao - who remains a near-sacred figure in the country.

China's sophisticated censorship system, which cuts 1.4 billion people off from the global internet, meant many didn't know exactly what had happened.

The accusation of "hurting the feelings of the Chinese people" alone seemed enough to trigger a tsunami of anger, amplified by social media algorithms and a heavily controlled internet, where people are wary of disagreeing with the majority view.

It wasn't long before Mbappé, one of the biggest football stars in the world, said he was "sincerely sorry" for his "ill-judged" comment. His club, Real Madrid, and the Spanish league La Liga, also issued apologies. China is a huge market for the world's most popular sport.

Beijing later confirmed it was taking the footballer's apology "seriously". China Media Group has yet to say whether broadcasts will resume.

Kaynak: BBC News World RSS (Açık Basın / Haber Servisi)