On October 27, a Chinese netizen posted on X, using Mbappé's joke about the Chinese leader as an example to ask whether one could also joke about Napoleon; a foreign netizen left a highly upvoted reply in the comments saying that anyone can be joked about, and that this is called freedom of speech.
On October 27, fans of Mbappé announced a collective departure from the fandom and burned his jerseys to express their dissatisfaction.
On October 27, Dongqiudi released the full ranking for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, where the runner-up, Mbappé, was labeled as "person not found."
Xiao Jie, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, led a team to Nanchang, Jingdezhen and Yichun in Jiangxi to investigate government debt and audit work, and to verify materials on Jiangxi's debt black hole and mineral corruption.
The Epoch Times published an exclusive report on October 26 stating that CCP Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong is suffering from a terminal cancer, is about to step down, and is implicated in a massive black money case involving telecom fraud parks in Southeast Asia.
The eighth round of inspections by the 20th CCP Central Committee has officially begun. 15 central inspection teams have been stationed at the Ministry of Education and 31 universities under central administration, including Peking University and Tsinghua University, to conduct inspections, receiving reports from the public until December 21.
The Fifth Plenary Session opened on October 26. Xi Jinping delivered a work report on behalf of the Politburo and provided explanations. It is rumored that he was emotional and pounded the table.
A joint open letter signed by university students of the republic has surfaced on the Siyuan Lake BBS forum, listing 14 universities including Peking University and Renmin University, calling for the abolition of the unlimited term extension system for the president of the state and the implementation of people's supervision.
Teachers from a public school in Zunhua, Tangshan, Hebei, went to the city's Education Bureau to block the entrance and demand unpaid wages after long-term salary arrears. A large number of police were present to maintain stability.
The French talk show The Bridge released behind-the-scenes footage recorded in April of this year, which subsequently triggered accusations from domestic platforms like Dongqiudi that Mbappé made remarks hurting the feelings of the Chinese people.
On October 26, the Chinese Communist Party's 20th Central Committee Fifth Plenary Session opened, and CCTV reported on it.
From the evening of October 26, China Media Group halted broadcasts of La Liga matches, all games involving Mbappé, and advertisements featuring him. The trigger was Mbappé saying "Chinese dictator" during an interview when discussing face-swap memes of Mao Zedong.
Jiujingzhuang on Nanyuan Road in Fengtai District, Beijing, is a concentration camp where the authorities detain petitioners and rights defenders who travel to Beijing to petition. After the July 1 new petitioning rules took effect, more petitioners chose to enter the compound voluntarily to pressure local jurisdictions; detentions during sensitive periods are coercive, and mobile phones are confiscated at security checks upon entry.
In accordance with the requirements of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Finance, Nantong University and Yangzhou University have notified staff on the payroll and personnel-agency personnel that their salaries will be disbursed through digital RMB wallets starting November 2026. Personnel must open or upgrade their wallets within the prescribed deadline, with Nantong University requiring completion before October 30.
From October 26, the Shanghai Composite Index and others will adopt new compilation rules: the weight of a single stock is capped at 15%, and the removal of risk-warning stocks will be calculated based on the announcement date rather than the implementation date. Stocks whose announcement and implementation fall in different months may exit the index earlier. The market has recently been in a downtrend.
On October 26, responding to India's accusation that Chinese troops deviated from established patrol patterns and undermined border peace, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that China abides by the agreements and consensus reached between the two countries, carries out normal patrol and control activities on the border, and that both sides are maintaining communication through diplomatic and military channels.
On October 26, cartoon graffiti of Xi Jinping appeared on a restroom wall at a high school in Huangzhuang, Beijing; the school subsequently forced the restroom locked and carried out renovations.
On October 26, Bloomberg reported on a Morgan Stanley study saying that the Chinese stock market may not have bottomed out yet, and that offshore Chinese stocks could fall another 10%–15% before approaching historically low valuations, with weak economic consumption, pressure on e-commerce, and fears of tax-triggered selling of trusts intensifying the adjustment.
On October 26, the second day of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the official website of the CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that from January to September this year, discipline inspection and supervision organs nationwide filed a total of 800,000 cases, among which 73 were at provincial and ministerial level or above (90 in the same period last year), and 4,203 were at department and bureau level (3,704 in the same period last year). They received 3.506 million petitions and reports, an increase of 11.5% year on year.
On October 26, while China Media Group of China Central Television halted broadcasts of La Liga and matches involving Mbappé, the head of China Media Group sent a letter to La Liga president Tebas, demanding that Real Madrid and Mbappé himself immediately make a public and sincere apology, eliminate the adverse impact, and submit a written apology letter to China Media Group.
On October 26, several teachers from a public school in Zunhua City, Tangshan, Hebei, collectively went to the west gate of the Zunhua Education Bureau to block it and defend their rights after being owed wages for a long time. Several teachers sat on the ground, and police and security personnel were present to maintain stability.
Since October 26, clips of Mbappé's interview on the French online program The Bridge have circulated widely on Reddit, X, and Threads. Voice of America reported that when asked about the funniest meme, he said it was one putting his face on a photo of a "Chinese dictator"; later in the program a composite image of him with Mao Zedong was edited in. Multiple media outlets said the interview was recorded in April, and AFP Fact Check said it could not independently verify the authenticity of the video for now.
On October 26, the Student Affairs Department of Hubei University of Education issued a notice requiring all students to sign the "2026 Cybersecurity Commitment Letter" through the student affairs system, to self-check overseas app accounts such as Twitter and overseas game servers. Those confirmed to have circumvented the Great Firewall will face circulated criticism and disciplinary action, and serious cases will be handed over to the police and state security.
On October 26, Olympic table tennis champion Fan Zhendong shared his experience of watching a Real Madrid match at the Barcelona home stadium on Weibo, without mentioning Kylian Mbappé. Screenshots of a report page posted by netizens show that 45% of users selected the 'insulting martyrs' category.
Xinhua News Agency reported on October 26 that the qualification review for applications to the 2027 central government agencies and their directly affiliated institutions has concluded. A total of 3.45 million people passed the review, resulting in an average of about 97 applicants competing for a single recruitment vacancy.
The official website of Xinjiang Agricultural Vocational and Technical University stated that even privately circumventing the Great Firewall to access academic materials is illegal and in violation of regulations, and demanded that people use the school's academic resources or apply for external network access permissions, adding that there are proper channels for studying and that there has never been a justified reason to jump the wall.
A traffic accident victim in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang posted online asking for help, saying the vehicle that hit them fled the scene, the police did not retrieve surveillance footage, and the community refused to issue the certificate needed for surgery, leaving them with nowhere to turn.
In October 2026, a 2024 video by Dongchedi analyzing the Wenjie M7 accident in Yuncheng, Shanxi, was dug up by netizens. The host had pointed out at the time that the fuel tank was positioned far forward and could be crushed and catch fire after sliding under and colliding with a truck, sparking heated discussion among netizens.
On October 26, 2026, a netizen shared a photo of lockers on the X platform, with locker numbers running from 8959 to 8972, yet 8964 was the only one missing, suspected to be a deliberate avoidance of the June Fourth number.
A video recently circulated on Douyin showing a shirtless, emaciated elderly person bending over to rummage through a roadside trash can. Commenters left sarcastic remarks, saying this is the older generation of farmers who handed over their grain quotas — this is what “care in old age” looks like.
Recently, an educational consulting institution published an article reviewing policies in China in recent years on income incentives and subsidies for teachers of ideological and political courses at universities. Universities in many regions have explicitly required that the actual income of such teachers be higher than the average income of all teachers on campus, with preferences also given in professional title evaluations.
Recently, a college student posted on Xiaohongshu saying that the windproof cover on her electric bike parked at the school gate was stolen. After she reported it to the police, she was scolded by her academic advisor. She apologized repeatedly and said the matter had been resolved, but was still accused of "going her own way even when police handling is involved."
On October 26, a netizen said that they had been permanently banned from the Moments feature after posting "getting used to the plain and uneventful days lately" in their WeChat Moments, and that their Xiaohongshu and Douyin accounts linked to the same phone number were also successively permanently banned.
After Mbappé's remarks drew attention, Dongqiudi issued a statement saying the relevant comments involved harm to China and the Chinese people and would not be translated, and called on fans to watch matches rationally and avoid crossing the line.
From October 26, CCTV's "Focus Report" launched a three-part series "The Power of Thought," systematically interpreting the scientific connotation, theoretical character, practical basis and theoretical origins of Xi Jinping's thinking on Party building.
On October 26, at the parents' open day at Bowen School in Xining, Qinghai, several parents stood up to question and protest the school's implementation of the Dulangkou education model, saying the classroom order was as chaotic as a vegetable market and that children were being used as guinea pigs. Parents in the audience clasped their hands together in support, saying they would not accept it and firmly opposed it. Parents said that under this model, students teach the classes themselves while teachers' explanations account for less than 10 minutes.
On October 26, a netizen posted a video claiming that security checks at a Beijing subway station caused a large number of passengers to queue up, with the line extending to the corridor and the stairway entrance, and the site was packed with people.
On October 26, a netizen published an article comparing the Majuqiao day-labor market in Beijing with the Yizhuang industrial park just across the river: workers crowd into vans before dawn with cargo and passengers mixed together, earning 180 yuan for a five-hour trip, and sleeping in dormitories converted from kitchens; across the river, SMIC and JD.com are brightly lit. The article noted that there are over 200 million people in flexible employment and that the youth unemployment rate was about 18% in September.
On October 26, the WeChat mini program "Cangdun Graduate Entrance Exam Politics Question Bank" was suspended from service. The page indicated a violation of the Provisions on the Administration of Information Services for Mobile Internet Applications, and netizens speculated that it was related to the large number of remarks mocking and satirizing Xi Jinping in its notes section.
On October 26, a netizen in Guangdong captured footage of a public life-saving equipment box by a riverside embedded between a railing and the curb, with its door able to open only a narrow gap. The video sparked heated discussion among netizens.
On October 26, the official website of Nanyang Vocational College in Nanyang, Henan published a post stating that the School of Sports held a cybersecurity lecture for all freshmen of the 2026 cohort. Yu Xiaofeng, secretary of the directly affiliated Party branch, said that circumventing the Great Firewall to go online touches the bottom line of the law and school rules, and will directly affect personnel file records, political vetting for further study and employment development. He also stressed that online speech is recorded throughout the entire process, and warned students not to speak carelessly online, not to comment carelessly on hot topics, and not to spread rumors carelessly.
On October 26, a probationary employee at Chengdu Xindahan Human Resources Management Co., Ltd. sent a message in the company's large group chat demanding severance for leaving their job, claiming they were dismissed without cause and received no compensation. A prior written objection had been read but left unanswered. The employee was subsequently removed from the group chat and their messages were muted. They demanded one month's wages in compensation as well as a certificate of separation, and stated they would apply for labor arbitration.
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.
On October 26, TASS reported that Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova thanked China for properly maintaining the cemeteries of Soviet soldiers killed in action.
The Xiangyang Net video account posted a video thanking China for maintaining Soviet military cemeteries and praising the achievements of the Soviet army. In the comment section, many netizens left messages paying tribute to the American Flying Tigers, stating that the friendship between China and the US during the War of Resistance remains eternal.
On October 26, Chinese state media promoting propaganda toward Taiwan interviewed Hong Kong Legislative Council member Junius Ho. Ho said that Western democracy and freedom sound beautiful but cannot fool people, and that a system that can make people happy is a good system. His remarks were collectively mocked by Chinese netizens.
On October 26, a notice board was set up at the gate of Jinghang Senior High School in Cangzhou, Hebei, stating that no public phone is provided to prevent students from illegally bringing mobile phones, cigarettes and alcohol, engaging in early romantic relationships, and sneaking out of school, while also restricting parents from delivering supplies and banning the handover of snacks and drinks; netizens sarcastically commented that the treatment is worse than in prison.
After the man posted photos from the Tiananmen Marathon on social media to show support for "Wangwang," his account was permanently banned the next day.
PLA Daily reported on October 24 and 26: a unit of the Air Force conducting training no longer hands out new briefcases and instead circulates old ones, while officers and soldiers of a detachment of the Henan Armed Police Corps made mobile target drones and other training equipment themselves to save procurement funds.
On October 26, a petitioner in Beijing posted multiple videos on Douyin claiming to be guarded and tracked by multiple people, and blocked from going out to buy groceries. Earlier, they posted that someone followed them all the way from their doorstep onto a bus, and shared doorstep surveillance footage mocking stability maintenance.