Chinese sponsors have suspended their collaborations with the French football star, and state television has stopped showing Spain’s top league, La Liga.
This came after the Real Madrid striker talked about his favourite "meme": a video in which his head had been put on the body of Mao Zedong, or, in Mbappé's own words: "I think he was a Chinese dictator."
Mbappé, his club Real Madrid and the Spanish league have all had to quickly bow down and publicly apologise for what happened.
They have major economic interests in China and believe there is a lot to lose and little to gain by taking a more principled stance that protects freedom of expression, says Björn Jerdén, head of the National Knowledge Center on China at the Swedish Institute for International Affairs.
“Will cost”
He notes that Mbappé writes in his apology that he understands he has "hurt many people in China."
These are the talking points of the Communist Party, and this is exactly what China wants. It shows that the Communist Party is powerful, both to the outside world and to its own people.
The result is also censorship, which already exists in China but is now spreading across the world.
The signal is that if you depend on China, there are things you cannot say. And if you do say them, it will cost you a lot, says Björn Jerdén.
At the same time, he notes that Mbappé is correct in substance: Mao Zedong was a dictator.
That makes the signal even clearer - even though he said something that was true, “mighty China” forced him to back down.
In the West, most people probably see Mbappé's "meme" as an inoffensive joke. But Jerdén points out that dictatorships view jokes as dangerous.
If you allow jokes and ridicule, it can eventually lead to the regime being questioned or challenged. So it's simply not something to laugh at.
Attracts Chinese fans
However, the joke probably didn't even reach the Chinese population. Foreign social media is completely blocked in China, and the post had been censored on Chinese social media, according to Jerdén.
The television blackout can also be seen as a punishment for the millions of Chinese fans who follow the Spanish league.
There are certainly people in China who think, "Can't we just watch this and leave politics out," says Björn Jerdén.
The apologies now seem to have gone down relatively well in China. La Liga said on Wednesday that it hopes the situation can be resolved soon.
