On the streets of Beijing, the French footballer Kylian Mbappé’s face still peeks out from the chilled drinks cabinets of China Post-owned newsstands.
asserted
face → peek → newsstands
From behind the glass fridge doors, a smiling Mbappé graces bottles of peach-flavoured sport drinks that promise to quench thirst and replenish electrolytes.
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that → smile → electrolytes
Fans who wanted to see him slot an 11th-minute penalty against Racing Santander in the Spanish LaLiga match on Sunday were denied the chance.
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him → want → chance
China’s state broadcaster CCTV did not air the match, despite a broadcast deal with LaLiga, Spain’s professional soccer league, amid an ongoing fallout over the Real Madrid star’s perceived slight against China’s founding leader Mao Zedong.
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CCTV → air → leader
The great cancellation has not yet trickled down to street vendors.
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cancellation → trickle → vendors
A short walk through the inner suburbs of Beijing’s Chaoyang district revealed at least three kiosks and one supermarket were stocking the Mbappé-endorsed drink this week, after beverage giant Dongpeng joined several other Chinese companies in severing promotional deals with the star.
“I only saw the news about this in passing, so I don’t know exactly what he [Mbappé] said,” said 56-year-old Shi, who manages one China Post-owned street kiosk.
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who → reveal → kiosk
She had restocked her drinks cabinet with more Mbappé drinks since the weekend but was not sure whether the supplier would send more once this stock was sold.
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stock → restock → more
However, her views on Mao help explain the genesis of the outrage, even as many Chinese people remain in the dark about the details of Mbappé’s remarks, which have been blocked by government censors, deemed too egregious to be broadcast to the masses.
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which → help → masses
“As a Chinese person, I grew up listening to Chairman Mao’s songs and quotations.
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I → grow → songs
My love and affection for Chairman Mao are beyond question,” Shi said.
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Shi → say → question
‘My feelings for Chairman Mao are not something I can express in words; it’s something ingrained in my bones.’Shi, Beijing kiosk manager
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it → express → bones
“I’m almost 60 now.
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I → ’m → ?
My feelings for Chairman Mao are not something I can express in words; it’s something ingrained in my bones.”
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it → express → bones
At another kiosk a few hundreds metres away, the operators also had no knowledge of the Mbappé scandal and no one had advised them to stop selling the Mbappé-promoted drinks, they said.
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they → have → drinks
“We don’t know about it,” said the kiosk manager, who declined to give his name, while his colleague pulled out her phone to search the news.
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colleague → know → news
I’m not interested in that.
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I → ’m → that
All I care about is whether I can make any money at my shop today.
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I → care → shop
National affairs are for the state to handle.
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state → handle → ?
They don’t have much to do with ordinary people like us.”
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They → have → us
The Real Madrid striker was forced to issue an apology last week for a months-old interview in which he laughed at a meme depicting him as “some guy – I think he’s a Chinese dictator”.
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he → force → guy
Real Madrid and LaLiga president Javier Tebas also issued apologies.
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Madrid → issue → apologies
The meme in question showed Mbappé’s face photoshopped onto Mao’s body — one of many viral memes that depict the footballer as different dictators from history, in a joke that taps into his commanding presence inside teams.
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that → show → teams
Mao, who led China from 1949 until his death in 1976, remains widely revered by many in China, and is credited for ending China’s domination by imperialist forces and heralding its independence.
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who → lead → independence
Discussion of his legacy is tightly controlled by Chinese authorities, especially when it comes to the catastrophic impact of the industrialisation campaign known as the Great Leap Forward, in the late 1950s and early ’60s, and the ensuing famine that killed millions of people, and the Cultural Revolution, from 1966, which triggered widespread violence and bloodshed.
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which → control → violence
The scandal has exposed the paradox of the Chinese censorship system that has fanned the flames of outrage while blocking the original content that would allow citizens to reach their own verdict, triggering some to go looking for answers.
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citizens → expose → answers
I can’t find anything about it.
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I → find → it
To access the video of Mbappé’s interview, Chinese citizens need to use a virtual private network (VPN) to jump the Great Firewall that blocks them from accessing the Western internet, an act that is technically prohibited in China.
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that → access → China
On social media, some people demanded that vendors cover up Mbappé’s face on the drinks packaging; others were perplexed about the origins of the scandal.
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others → demand → scandal
I can’t find anything about it,” one person posted on Chinese microblogging site Weibo.
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person → find → Weibo
“Just search for it on the internet beyond China’s firewall and you’ll find it.
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you → search → it
They don’t let you see it on the Chinese internet...,” another user responded.
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user → let → internet
It remains unclear when the broadcast blackout will end and Real Madrid games will be aired again in China.
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games → remain → China
Government-owned China Media Group (CMG) said last week that “Mbappé’s outrageous remarks have harmed the Chinese people, crossed a line and exceeded the scope of freedom of speech”.
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remarks → own → speech
Luorui Xiang contributed research
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what → contribute → world
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