China said it has taken an apology from Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe seriously after comments he made poking fun at Mao Zedong caused a social media storm and saw Spanish football yanked off state TV. Mocking former leader Mao — blamed by historians for millions of deaths — is taboo in China and the French player’s remarks saw him become the latest foreign sports figure to anger Beijing. The clip of the video interview with French show The Bridge — since taken down — saw Mbappe talk about being amused by an internet meme of his face digitally altered onto “some guy, think he’s a Chinese dictator”, an apparent reference to Mao.
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