His groveling apology for calling Mao a dictator will only embolden the regime to continue to bully anyone who calls out its bloody record.
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Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe during a game against Real Sociedad in Madrid, Spain, August 26, 2026.
Juan Barbosa/Reuters
Calling a dictator is simply a statement of fact. But the does not like it when the truth is told.
The captain of the French national soccer team and Real Madrid star player has attracted the ire of Beijing by innocently describing, on a French talk show, a meme of his face superimposed on an image of Mao. He said it was the meme that made him laugh the most, describing it as “a video of a guy, I think it’s a Chinese dictator.”
About the Author
Benedict Rogers is a human rights activist and writer. He is the senior director at Fortify Rights, the co-founder and chair of Hong Kong Watch, and the author of The China Nexus: Thirty Years In and Around the Chinese Communist Party’s Tyranny.
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Calling a dictator is simply a statement of fact. But the does not like it when the truth is told.
The captain of the French national soccer team and Real Madrid star player has attracted the ire of Beijing by innocently describing, on a French talk show, a meme of his face superimposed on an image of Mao. He said it was the meme that made him laugh the most, describing it as “a video of a guy, I think it’s a Chinese dictator.”
About the Author
Benedict Rogers is a human rights activist and writer. He is the senior director at Fortify Rights, the co-founder and chair of Hong Kong Watch, and the author of The China Nexus: Thirty Years In and Around the Chinese Communist Party’s Tyranny.
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