China's Foreign Ministry Responds to Mbappé's Apology as French Press Criticizes His Team
Two days after Kylian Mbappé apologized for remarks that enraged Chinese fans, Beijing gave its first official response — a measured 'we value the apology' — while French newspapers turned on his entourage and his remaining Chinese sponsors kept their distance.
At his regular briefing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun was asked what Beijing made of Kylian Mbappé's apology for remarks about China. His answer ran to a single sentence: "We value the apology made by the person involved."
The wording was deliberately measured — neither an acceptance nor a dismissal. It came after Mbappé apologized but his Chinese accounts stayed muted, and after a fortnight in which Chinese brands erased him in a single morning, the Football Association demanded a formal public apology, and La Liga apologized on his club's behalf. The ministry's one-liner was the central government's first word on the apology, and it gave the saga an official punctuation mark.
In Paris, meanwhile, the press turned on the player's own team. L'Équipe criticized Mbappé's entourage for a public-relations strategy it called extremely short-sighted: years spent polishing his image in European and American markets while leaving him unrestrained in what he said about everywhere else — and, in the process, destroying a high-value market it had taken years to build. The New Arab framed the episode as a warning to every global sports star that emerging markets can no longer be treated as passive income with no cultural homework attached. Chinese state media amplified both verdicts; Guangming Daily ran the judgment as its own banner: "Mbappé's malicious offense will inevitably come at a cost."
The commercial cleanup continued in parallel. Hisense, named by Real Madrid as one of the Chinese sponsors that "understood the situation," issued a flat denial: it has no commercial cooperation or endorsement deal with Mbappé personally, its sponsorship of the club covers Spain only, and it sent a letter of condemnation the moment the remarks surfaced. The other sponsor named by Real Madrid, robot-vacuum maker Roborock, has said nothing while its Weibo comment sections fill with users demanding it follow the other brands out the door.
What remains unresolved is the part Beijing's one sentence conspicuously did not settle: the Football Association's demand for a formal public apology, and the Chinese social media accounts that have stayed dark since the apology was made. When — or whether — they come back online is the next measure of whether the apology landed.