US Congress backs Mbappé after China sponsors cut ties over Mao 'dictator' remark

The US House Select Committee on China has publicly backed Kylian Mbappé, declaring he “should not apologise” for calling Mao Zedong a dictator — a comment that cost the Real Madrid forward three Chinese sponsorship deals this week.

The controversy began when footage surfaced of Mbappé on French digital chat programme The Bridge, in which he apparently referred to Mao as a “dictator” while reacting to a meme featuring himself. The remark prompted beverage producer Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese maker Milkground to terminate their commercial agreements with the French international on Tuesday. Each company stated it condemned “any words and actions that hurt national sentiment.”

Mbappé subsequently issued an apology, describing his original comment as “ill-judged.” He said: “During a recent interview, I reacted to an image of myself. My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world. I apologise to everyone my words have upset. This was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry.”

The Select Committee on China rejected that apology as unnecessary. In a statement shared on social media, the committee argued: “Mao was a dictator, and by orders of magnitude, he did more harm to the Chinese people than a comment from a soccer player ever could. Mao was the leader of the CCP for decades and his dictatorship and disastrous policies killed tens of millions of Chinese people in the Cultural Revolution, the Great Famine, and other atrocities.”

The committee also directed criticism at the companies that severed ties with Mbappé, stating: “The real disgrace in this news story is the companies rushing to apologize so they can continue to do business in China. The CCP is the largest oppressor of the Chinese people and their human rights, and those businesses that work with the CCP help normalize its crushing brutality.”

The committee added that Mbappé “should exercise this opportunity to tell the horrific truth about Mao’s dictatorship,” pointing to what it described as decades of the Chinese Communist Party denying citizens basic human rights, including freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

The episode has drawn international attention to the commercial pressures faced by global sports stars with sponsorship interests in China, where criticism of historical Communist Party figures remains a highly sensitive issue.