As the controversy over Kylian Mbappé's remarks intensifies in China, French netizens have shared a TV interview from April 2023 featuring Lu Shaye, the Chinese Ambassador to France, in which he denied the historical disasters caused by Mao Zedong's rule and deflected the topic to Western human rights issues.
On October 27, Mbappé's remarks calling Mao Zedong "China's dictator" sparked controversy. Milkground took down his endorsement promotional content, and Swiss sportswear brand On's official Weibo account in China also deleted related content, but On's overseas official website still retains the collaboration feature.
After the interview sparked controversy, the program The Bridge pulled the video of Mbappé's face-swap meme about Mao Zedong from its social media accounts without explanation. elDiario said the video can still be seen in reposts on Reddit and other media; ABC said the original clip can no longer be found on its YouTube channel.
At around 8:55 a.m. Beijing time on October 14, X user Hong Kong Lao Lei (@btcmos) asked Grok: Who are the three biggest dictators of the 20th and 21st centuries respectively? He requested that only names be given directly. Grok replied that for the 20th century they were Mao Zedong, Stalin, and Hitler; for the 21st century they were Kim Jong-un, Putin, and Xi Jinping.
On September 16, a netizen posted a promotional video praising the worship of Mao Zedong and passing on the red gene, which was subsequently mocked by numerous netizens using image comments, attracting widespread public attention.
On the 50th anniversary of Mao Zedong's death, a freshman in Hubei laid flowers and wept before a statue, expressing gratitude, which triggered a large number of netizens netizens in the comments section to engage in irony.
In a special feature on the 50th anniversary of Mao Zedong's death, Deutsche Welle quoted commentary stating that Xi Jinping learned lessons of power from the Cultural Revolution and used this as a political consideration for maintaining Mao Zedong's historical status.
On the evening of September 8, a large number of people gathered at Mao Zedong Square in Shaoshan, Hunan, singing red songs, dancing loyalty dances, and displaying slogans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Mao Zedong's death.
On September 8, a large crowd gathered to commemorate Mao Zedong, with footage showing the crowd waving flags and shouting slogans. The reported gathering size was said to have increased compared to the previous year and the year before that, but the material did not specify the exact location, organizers, number of participants, or whether the event had official approval. The specific demands of the on‑site activity and any subsequent handling were also not described.
In an interview on the French web show The Bridge (hosted by his Real Madrid teammate Tchouaméni), Mbappé was asked about the funniest meme of himself. He said it was the one where someone put his face onto a photo of “a Chinese dictator,” adding that he often sends it to friends while playing video games. The show later edited in a composite image of him and Mao Zedong. Multiple media outlets report that the interview was recorded in April this year, and clips spread on platforms such as Reddit and X starting October 26.
According to Know Your Meme, Reddit user TheSefi76 posted an edited image of Mbappé turned into Mao Zedong in the r/soccercirclejerk subreddit, and the site identifies it as the earliest known "Dictator Mbappé" image. Since then, the practice of face-swapping Mbappé with figures such as Mao Zedong, Kim Jong-un, Stalin, and Mobutu has gradually become a staple gag among football fans.
On August 18, 2023, France's 20 Minutes reported on a parody video that face-swapped Mbappé with Mao Zedong and set it to the red song "The Sun in the Sky Is Red"; the meme originated as fans' satire of his outsized influence within the team.
Hu Liren said that during a dinner with leaders of Shanghai Qingpu Prison, he asked whether a large number of Falun Gong practitioners had been arrested and had their organs harvested while in prison, and the other party retorted, "How do you know?" before admitting that this had happened.
After Mao Zedong died in September 1976, Hua Guofeng, together with Ye Jianying and others, smashed the Gang of Four on October 6, and was elected Chairman of the CCP Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission that same night; earlier, on April 30, Mao Zedong had written for him: "You handle it, I'm at ease."
On September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong passed away. Newspapers across the country reported his death with black borders and large-scale memorial activities were held. The grassroots society was plunged into an extreme political atmosphere, with the public required to participate in collective mourning. Those with problematic family backgrounds faced severe political suppression during this period.